Spirituality for Dummies, chapter 2

Mike and I were talking about current high school/college students vs. being a student "back in our day" (we are getting older by the second!).  We were saying kids these days can get an extension on a deadline if they have a hangnail, and back in our day, you could be on your deathbed but you still had to turn in your work.  If kids fail a test now, they have an opportunity to retake it.  They have chances to earn extra credit too.  When we were in school, if you failed, you failed, and your grades reflected it.  There was no "everybody gets a trophy" mentality.  

Then I had a revelation: maybe there was grace available to me back then, and I just didn't know it!  I never asked for it, never expected it, never thought I deserved it.  I thought I had to do everything exactly according to the rules and in my own strength.  I'm still working on letting go of that mentality.  I don't have to be perfect, and neither do you. We don't have to perform to earn the reward.  Jesus is perfect, and because our identity is wrapped up in Him, God's grace covers us!