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Last Updated on July 25, 2023 by The Unbounded Thinker
I recently contemplated life and realized that we live by grace.
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, also realized that we live by grace. He once said, ‘In every age, life has a frustrating way of reminding us that we are not the sole authors of our story.’
Most of us believe we are responsible for all our accomplishments, positive experiences and good characters. We despise failures, believing they are lazy, undetermined, and unskilled. We look down upon drug addicts, believing they have poor self-control. We glorify our successes, thinking we are solely responsible for them because we worked hard, persevered, believed in ourselves, and embraced consistency.
We are unaware that grace or divine influence plays a major role in building our successes. Although hard work, perseverance, and consistency increase the chances of attaining our goals, they do not guarantee success. Our life circumstances, which are mostly beyond our control, play a major role in our successes.
For instance, a great footballer is mainly successful because he was not born disabled. A skilled painter is mainly successful because he was not born blind. A proficient accountant might be successful because luck saved him from a terrible event that could have caused blindness.
Many hardworking people have failed because something bad happened in their lives that discouraged or prevented them from fully committing to their goals. Maybe such things could have also prevented us from meeting our goals if they happened to us. It is by grace that we were saved from them.
After reflecting on my life, I realized that several things beyond my control made me who I am today. For instance, I am interested in spirituality because my parents are deeply religious. I decided to chase my dreams instead of working 9 to 5 because I met a friend who inspired me to pursue my purpose. I can easily reduce my alcohol and cannabis consumption because I contracted Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), which helped me realize that I can live without drugs and alcohol.
It’s all by grace.
Some of you think you are not drug addicts because you have strong will power and self-control. But if you reflect on your life you’ll realize that your life experiences, social, religious, or economic background – which are beyond your control – played a huge role in making you less interested in drugs.
It’s all by grace.
Therefore, we must stop bragging about our accomplishments, virtuous character, and positive experiences because various circumstances have enabled us to have them. Instead, we must embrace humility and strive to be compassionate towards the less fortunate. Maybe some harsh circumstances made them who they are today. It is our duty to share our grace with them by helping them.
Lastly, we should stop despising them because tables turn. Remember: we live in a mysterious and miraculous universe where things can change at any moment in their favor and against ours.
‘I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.’ – 1st Corinthians 3: 6 – 7
‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.’ – Ephesians 2: 8 – 9:
