The Only 2 Things you Need to do Today

I love my “to-do” lists.  They help me keep on track and get things done.  They keep me from dropping the ball or failing to deliver on promises I made.  They make me feel a sense of accomplishment, even though I usually have more “to-do’s” than there are hours in a day.

What if I could narrow down that list to only 2 things.  How simple would my life become?  Can you imagine only having 2 things on your list for today?  Well, according to God’s word, you do:

1. Live in grace.

2. Walk in love.

That’s it.  It’s really all that matters.  And putting these 2 things on your list everyday could revolutionize the way you live and the impact you have.

I’d like to say I came up with this on my own, but it belongs to Bob Goff, who spoke these words into my life last weekend.  “Live in grace, walk in love.”  Let’s unpack them.

1. Live in Grace

The most beautiful word in the Christian language is: Grace.  It encompasses the entire Gospel (good news) of the salvation and freedom God offers through His Son, Jesus.  It is offered to us as believers in abundance for our everyday.  It covers our screw-ups and failures.  It motivates us to a deeper relationship with God, because it is something He gives freely, not something we earn.

Yet grace is the one thing that seems to elude most Christians.  We will grab hold of grace for salvation of our souls and then spend the rest of our lives trying to prove to God through our works that we were worth the expense.  And when we mess up, (which is still a daily thing for me) we leave grace on the side of the road and barrel full-speed into self-condemnation.

What if we stopped listening to lies that are whispered into our ears?  Lies like:

• “You aren’t good enough.”
• “God loves you, but everyone else thinks you’re an idiot.”
• “God can’t use your life because of what you have done.”
• “You’ll never get it right.”

I think us women are really good at being mean to ourselves.  And we need to stop.  We need to grab hold of God’s grace and hang on for dear life every single day until we take our last breath.  Grace first, grace always.  Give yourself grace, live in grace.

[Tweet “When we leave grace in favor of belittling ourselves for our imperfections, we leave the Gospel. “]

We leave God.

Because God is all about grace.  Look at what God says about it:

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.”  (Galatians 1:6 ESV)

There is nothing Christ-like about beating yourself up all the time.  Stop it. Live in grace and your world will be turned upside down, you’ll experience the freedom that comes from the forgiveness that you have already received and you will be able to travel lightly through this world.

2. Walk in Love

You have to be before you can do.  Living in grace allows you the capacity to walk in love.  You can’t have one without the other.  Sure you can love others without forgiving yourself and living in grace, but your love will be motivated by a need to assuage your guilt and prove your worthiness.  It won’t be God’s kind of love.

Walking in love is a lot more simple than it sounds.  Just love, do love , be love, walk in love.  Let God’s love pour out of you like a fountain.

I have this minor road rage problem.  I have a tendency to tell the other travelers on the road with me how bad their driving skills are.  I don’t run them off the road and make offensive hand gestures, but my heart is far from loving when I do it.

So now, when I start to  share their driving inefficiencies in anger, I stop and tell them that I love them.  Yep, out loud, instead of yelling negative things, I yell love, and then I pray for them.  I do something.  It’s a work in progress, but it a step of walking in love.

How would our relationships, our workplaces, our families, and our hearts change if we started to walk in love?  The word, “walk” suggests action.  So look around you.  Who will you love today?  How will you love them?  Don’t start big, start small and let God grow big love in you.

[Tweet “”Just love people. And start with the ones that creep you out.” @bobgoff”]

I love that quote.  It’s easy to love people who you like, but what about loving those who creep you out.  The ones you don’t understand, or don’t particularly like.  It’s not hard to love others, just start by being nice, and ask God to help you love like Him.

That’s it.  That’s my “to-do” list for the day.  Will you take it and make it yours?

Will you live in grace, and walk in love?

Doing so won’t just change you, it will change our world.

Others will be able to see and know that God is a God of grace and love.

Isn’t that what the Gospel (good news) is all about?