Many of us have heard the story about Paul’s thorn in the flesh where God told him that His grace is sufficient for him.

A few years ago, in preparing to publicly share a message on grace, I looked up its meaning in the concordance and found that it says that grace is “the divine influence on the heart and its reflection in the life, including gratitude.”

What a difference this made in my life, to understand how it was that God’s grace (His influence on the heart) could have possibly been enough for Paul. It, too, is sufficient for us, if we receive it. It is God’s grace which will influence a person to do what’s right in His sight.

In order to receive grace from our Father, we must first humble ourselves. He resists the proud, those who think they don’t need what He has to offer. As a counselor told me long ago, everything comes through grace. At the beginning of each of Paul’s letters, he speaks of grace and peace or grace, mercy and peace.

Knowing that grace comes first and is only received by first humbling ourselves, this then needs to be what we should do. Confess our pride to our Maker. Turn from it and receive all that we need.