Experience God's Grace and Mercy When You Give Your Personal Best to Him. Perhaps the first and foremost problem that stunts the spiritual growth for many a new Christian is the false analysis of the personal best. Up to the waters of baptism, the would-be disciple is coached, guided, and spoon fed a host of truths and new information about God. It does not take long for the young Christian to experience the first stirring of understanding about God's grace and mercy, and when the sinner commits to turn away from a life led for personal gratification and instead turns to a life of Christ-likeness, it is with earnest intent and desire. Sadly, soon the notion of giving their personal best to God trips up those who fail to transition from accepting others' instructions about a loving God to fixing their eyes on Jesus instead. As Satan seeks to snuff out the tender shoots of a growing love for the redeeming grace of Jesus' sacrifice, feelings of inadequacy begin to multiply. You see, the new disciples are comparing themselves now to those who might have been in the faith for years or even decades, failing to see that the personal best is not quantitative but instead qualitative in nature. Whereas for a well to do Christian it is easier to give a sizeable weekly tithe, the $5 the new Christian is able to scrape together suddenly appears paltry. In the same vein, when listening to the flowery prayers of some during get-togethers, the somewhat forced ovations to God that the new Christian has to offer seem meaningless. The results are dangerous: instead of experiencing God's grace and mercy to the full, the new disciple in instead filled with feelings of shame, inadequacy, and subsequent emotional pain of simply not living up to anyone's standards. Compounded with the guilt of just not being able to "get happy," many Christians suffer in silence and puts on a good front. Break through these chains and instead of guilt experience the emotional healing that stems from God's power when you learn to recognize your personal best and resolve to offer it up to God on a daily basis. In keeping with Proverbs 12:28, righteousness is a path along which immortality is reached. It is not the actual perfection of the Christian walk but instead the stubborn persistence therein - by being the best you can be for God - that results in the final prospect of being made perfect when the Christian faces God and experience His grace and mercy first hand. It is the spiritual growth along the way that also permits for the emotional healing for someone caught up in the self destructive clutches of feelings of inadequacy. A powerful tool in this endeavor is revealed in 2 Peter 1:1-11. In verse four it is revealed that the faith the Christian professes must be precious. In verses five through seven, a how-to manual is offered that helps anyone who doubts their Christian walk to get back on track and let go of the fears of an inadequate life that might have plagued them. Experience God's grace and mercy today; allow yourself to experience spiritual growth and the emotional healing that comes in its wake.
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