Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – Ephesians 2:8-9

A few days ago, one of our readers mentioned feeling sinful and struggling with the voices in their head that keep telling them they aren’t doing enough, or praying enough, or reading their Bible enough.

Wow! Isn’t that the truth? I know I certainly have felt that way at times. Because if we’re honest, most of us certainly don’t read the Bible enough, pray enough, worship enough, or even do enough good to really justify God’s love, do we?

We know that instinctively, but the devil likes to remind us and bring thoughts to us that cause us to think that God doesn’t really love us and that we aren’t doing enough.

But here’s the truth.

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 (NIV)

None of us can do enough. None of us are good enough, none of us pray enough, read the Bible enough, or really do enough at all. God’s standard is so high that not one of us could ever meet it on our own. That’s why we needed Jesus.

And yes, we should try to read our Bible, pray and do good things, but it’s out of a heart of love for Jesus that we should be doing those things, rather than hoping to do enough to earn God’s love.

Then we have to realize that the thoughts that tell us were sinning, that we’re not doing enough are not godly thoughts. And we need to replace those with God’s truth. Yes, I didn’t read my Bible today, but I know that God loves me and it’s not by reading the Bible that I gain God’s love but it’s through Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. So don’t let yourself feel down and bad about yourself. Yes, you should want to read your Bible and strive to do it, but when you don’t, just receive God’s forgiveness and know that those thoughts that tell you otherwise are lies.