Identified By Grace Alone

Who you are is a product of grace.

You learn a lot about God through parenting. Before having a child (or children), you see God through the lens of what you experienced with your parents—a humanistic perspective. After having a child (or children), you see God through your experience with your kid(s)—a theological perspective. With this shift, you move from striving to please to constantly communicating that you are pleased with another. Most of us were taught about God from childhood philosophy. I’m starting to believe, more and more, that the most accurate way to know about God is from the philosophy of a parent.

The Trinitarian God identifies as Father, Son, and Spirit. We were made from family and union. The image and likeness attributed to us are family and union. Yet, through taking control of the narrative, we made a gospel rooted in a misguided need to please a God who is already pleased. We know half-grace—a grace that gives us the ability to strive harder rather than a grace that permits us to rest.