What Would You Have Been?
Have you ever thought about what you would have been like if things had gone differently? I don’t mean if you had picked a different major in school or if you had grown an extra six inches (if I had an extra six inches I’m pretty sure I’d be in the NBA). What would you have been like if God hadn’t saved you? What would you have become?
I find it very helpful to think about the sins that I struggle with now, and then to consider what I would be like if God hadn’t saved me. Every sinful tendency in my life would be massively amplified. For example:
- As a Christian, I’m an arrogant person who criticizes far more than he encourages. If God hadn’t saved me I would be impossible to be around. My marriage would be full of harsh criticism, my friends would be the brunt of mean-spirited jokes, and I would look down on everyone around me.
- I’m a really selfish guy who’s a big fan of relaxing. Apart from the redeeming grace of God, I would rarely serve my wife, waste hours in front of the television, and neglect my little girl.
- Because I’m selfish, I struggle to care for people. If God hadn’t called me out of darkness, I would have been the most cold, uncaring person to walk the face of the earth. There would be no sympathy in my heart for sick or struggling people. They would be problems, not people.
- I love to compete on the athletic playing field. Without God, I would worship winning and love the praise of others.
I’m so grateful that God saved me. He spared me from a life riddled with wickedness and unhappiness. I know that apart from grace, my marriage would disintegrate, my friendships would be shallow at best, and there would be little or no joy in my life. Grace truly is amazing.
What would you have become apart from the grace of God?
Posted in Salvation
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:21 am
I was saved at 25 so I know what I would be like without Christ. Trust me, God willing, I ain’t going back to that….
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
I’d be nothing.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing.” John 15:5
Or what about a somewhat reversed version:
What would I have been if I obeyed everything God said?
What could I still become through Christ?
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:46 pm
NP - Can you imagine what you would have been like at 50 if God hadn’t saved you at 25? God is kind isn’t he?
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Yes God is (especially in my case) unfathomably kind. Until I was 25 I had never set foot in a church and had no clue about who Christ was or what he did. I didn’t even know Samson and Delilah were from the Bible.
At 25 I was making more money than I should as an independent business consultant, consulting for major companies and getting paid like it. I was at the top. But my life was a complete lonely meaningless mess. I think at 50 I would have had more toys, and completely ruined liver, lungs, and brain cells but it could have not gotten anymore meaningless and lonely. Or maybe I just don’t have a good enough imagination….haha
My life at 25 and then contrasted with 1 year later, after a year under the faithful Gospel preaching of Craig Cabaniss is all the contrast I need to be constantly thanking God. I shutter at the prospect of me at 50 w/o His Grace!
Thanks for your post and follow up question. I definitely have a renewed sense of gratitude.
Nate
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:58 pm
That’s a good question. God graciously saved me out of a sinful lifestyle when I was a very little girl! By my Savior’s incredible grace (that I do not deserve), I have no memory of not knowing/loving Him. That blows my mind. I so don’t deserve that! But, I can take a pretty good guess at how I’d be apart from the saving grace of Christ. I’d be a very proud, self-righteous, independent woman who got her way at all costs. It wouldn’t be a pretty picture. I’m so grateful that I’m His child and that because of His atoning sacrifice and His incredible power, I’ll never have to see what I could have become!
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:11 am
without God’s grace, I would be the person I was 5 years ago - an alcoholic and druggie. praise God, He reached down and saved me from who I was quickly becoming.
without His grace, I would be spiritually (and quite possibly phyically) dead.
without His grace, I wouldn’t care about Him, my relationship with my Father, or my actions in light of His holiness.
without His grace, I would only see destroyed relationships.
but by His grace, He reached down and saved me. How grateful I am for that. By His grace, now I love Him. the God that I once ran from has now become the sweetest Guide, Friend and Comfortor to me.
By His grace, I am seeing torn relationships restored.
By His grace, I am seeing growth in the sweet fellowship I enjoy with my Savior.
Everything changed that day. Wow!
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:50 am
This is kind of ironic because in a week and a half I’m going to a camp at the college I’ll be attending this Fall and the theme this year is Grace. Hopefully I’ll have a better grasp of grace and a better answer to your question when I get back. thanks for posting this though because that’s a really tough question to face.
-Bee-
July 4th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Marshall - That’s so cool how you quoted the same scripture my dad wrote about the following day. You guys must be on the same wave length!
YellerDaisies - Aren’t you glad that God saved you when you were young and spared from so much sin?
Emily - Everything really did change on that day. In the words of Tim Hughes, “O Happy Day”!
Bee - I hope the camp is a great time!
July 5th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Much like YellerDaisies, I have few memories of life before Christ. But I know exactly what I’d be like without His intervention: an unbearable braggart pursuing her own glory in every area of life, terrified of trying new things due to fear of man, obsessed with her appearance (probably anorexic), and unable to maintain any relationship because of her gross insensitivity. I still struggle with each of those areas, even after 15 years of sanctification, and I shudder to think of what I’d be as an unbeliever!