Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

An old hymn says, ‘It is not by trying, but by trusting.’

Really?

We get the point, of course, that we are not saved by works, but I think the New Testament continually calls believers to try trustingly to make progress in the life of discipleship.

Someone said that grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to works.

Paul expresses the balance called for exquisitely in 1 Corinthians 15:10:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. (New Living Translation).

Haven’t I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn’t amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it. (The Message).

Try trustingly!