¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary,^(A) I worked harder than any of them,^(B) though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Most people get tired of Christianity because they made it into a 24/7 performance for God and others. The thinking is that when we perform well, God claps and we receive His favor. If we did not perform to the standard that is expected, God is ready to whip our butts. In a sense, we live by works when God tells us to live by grace. We were saved by grace but  we are living by our own good works.

We think if we try harder, do better we will be better. We focus so much on what we can do for Christ rather than on what Christ did for us. This is the very irony of the grace of God. We perform better not by trying harder but by believing better on  what Christ did for us on the cross.

I am loved and I am saved by God’s grace frees me to live by God’s grace and His glory.