Lord, when I am tempted to strive, remind me that I already have the prize. You have already given me something far greater than anything I could achieve in a lifetime of good behavior. You paid an unfathomable price to achieve for me something I can never achieve for myself: intimacy with God. God, the King of the world, Creator, Friend, Redeemer, Safe Place, my Rock, and the only One able to make something beautiful and lasting out of our broken lives. As the whole world strives and groans to earn, Your children sit and bask in grace. We have what the whole world desires but believes is too good to be true: unconditional acceptance, lavish love, powerful grace. Let us not sterilize it and neutralize it by attaching conditions. It is meant to be scandalous. Only unmeasured love can save us from all our measuring.