“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many I tell you will try to enter and will not be able to.”-Luke 13:24

In his book “The Great Omission”, Dallas Willard said that “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.  Earning is an attitude.  Effort is an action.”  I’ve often struggled with this personally in the sense that I’m not always sure what I am doing is out of effort or out of earning.  I think the answer comes down to what the motive of the heart really is.

At the moment of salvation, we are given a new heart.  This new heart is one that is open and receptive to God’s word and changes its desires and affections over time.  As we grow in our faith, our desires become more aligned with God’s desires and our actions begin to change. 

However, our flesh is always making war against our Spirit and the attitude of earning can always creep in at any time.  Scripture is clear; although faith without works is dead, any good deed we do on our own accord is like a filthy rag to God.  So how can we tell what the true motive of our heart really is?

Psalm 1:2 says to “His delight is in the law of Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night.” Prior to salvation, we thought the things of God were foolish and a burden.  Since we have been given a new heart, we no longer see God’s law and doing his work as a burden, but as the delight of our hearts. 

Our flesh and our Spirit will always be at war with each other, and there will always be times when we will need to fight to do the work God has called us.  However, our hearts always reveal the true intention behind everything we do, say, and think.  Therefore, I think a way to examine what you do as either effort or earning comes down to this; do you see what you do as a burden, or do you see it as a delight?

-Phil