Excuses are so easy to justify. Just one more bite.  Just one more hour of sleep. Just one more little lie. Just one more time to gossip. Just one more (insert behavior here). And some behaviors have little consequences, but some have big! Some only affect us and our well-being, but many affect others as well. Many excuses are well meaning ways of procrastinating the inevitable. But some excuses are the exploitation of effortless grace. 

Yes! We all are going to fail at times. We are human! And God makes it clear that we are imperfect. But He also makes it clear that He wants us to strive to be holy – to be more like Him and less like the world. To be different and set apart. But being human isn’t an excuse to do as we please just because we can ask for forgiveness. It’s not an excuse to follow our own selfish desires because of our expectations of grace.

Jesus’s life was committed to holiness. But it was a hard life. He was mocked and scorned for being holy and died a painful death – all so we could receive His gift of grace – so we could be forgiven when we mess up. So why should we expect our part to be easy? Shouldn’t we expect to have to work at living out our commitment as well? Shouldn’t we strive to live a life that is set apart and free from excuses of how we can make it easier just one more time? 

It’s by grace that you are saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8). And God means that when He says that: you are saved! It is His gift to you. He doesn’t make excuses about why you can’t be saved now or take it back because you made a bad choice. 

But when you are saved, you are also given great power – the Power of the Holy Spirit to help you become more holy. To help you quit making excuses and love like He loved and live like He lived. 

What changes do you need to start making today so that you can stop making excuses? What behavior are you justifying that is keeping you from moving closer to Him and His holiness?

“So, prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So, you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.””

I Peter 1:13-16