Have you ever received a gift or some accolade that you didn't deserve?

Ephesians 2.1-10

Reference:  v.8  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God... (NIV Bible)

Explore:  Have you ever received a gift or some accolade that you didn't deserve?  Often it's the other way around: you do some tremendous amount of work and don't get any credit for it!  But I use to live in a house with a great group of girls.  They were all inspiring people and would often go out of their way to help others.  There was a younger girl in need within the community and two of my housemates took her under their wing.  A few months later I bumped into someone who knew the younger girl and they started thanking me for all I had done for her.  No matter how hard I tried to deflect the praise this person would not believe that I had had very little to do with supporting her.  This was certainly praise I had not deserved.
When we start to understand the sacrifice that God made for us we start to realise that He gave us a gift that we did not deserve.  While we are the one who constantly fall from grace, it is God who has given us the gift of grace that we might be saved.

Application:  After I had undeservingly received the praise for helping a younger girl it actually inspired me to do more to help others.  It wasn't about received praise that I actually deserved but it opened my eyes to the positive impact that we actually can have on other people.
Likewise, when we start to grasp the amazing grace that God has offered us, even when we are undeserving, then we start to see a brighter future and yearn to be more like Him.  God's grace, that is so freely given, is not there so we can slack off and just ask for forgiveness in the end.  The knowledge of God's grace should give us hope that He does love us unconditionally and we can do all things through Him.

Prayer:  Lord, your gifts are overwhelming and we are so undeserving.  Thank you for your grace.  May we live with the knowledge of your grace in our lives today.  Amen.

How has an undeserving accolade made you feel?  What situation in your life has inspired you to be greater in God?