Photo by Joshua Ness

I seem to be in this rut of reading Dallas Willard books on my vacation, and I read one last week while in Northern California. It’s Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship With God, and I must say that I wasn’t impacted by it as much as I was “Divine Conspiracy” several summers ago.

But I seem to be drawn to Dallas Willard quotes and I got a great one from Hearing God. Dallas writes, “Grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning”. That is my new favorite quote about grace.

I wrestle so much with how to rest in the good things of the Lord and yet obey as God intends. How do I have true grace—not “cheap grace” (to quote Bonhoeffer) or a lack of grace that’s more like legalism? How do I help students find and experience that same grace themselves? As we’re seeing in our College Transition Project, a true understanding of grace is so important before kids graduate.

Grace doesn’t mean no effort. It means no earning.

Amazing.