Here’s a good word for all those self-help strategies.  The websites and the bookstores are crowded with a million crafted plans for how to lose unwanted weight, get control of personal finances, or marry the person of our dreams. Millions of pounds of body fat have been shed; ten million family budgets have been strengthened and secured—and at least a handful of romances have been kindled by wise tips on what makes us more attractive. These titles tap a human ache for personal improvement, for better health, for successful relationships. We each have somewhere deep within potential to make better choices—and find better outcomes. But self-help strategies can’t address the even more persistent ache for redemption and recovery. We’re powerless to change the facts: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23), the Bible tells us. “No one is righteous—not even one” (Rom 3:10). So heaven has a strategy that changes both our here and our hereafter: “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them” (2 Cor 5:19). When we couldn’t do a thing to change our lostness and our brokenness, the deep, unending grace of God offered us eternal life for all who trust in Jesus. Self-help has its place: that place is not your forever destiny. Only grace will do. So stay in it. -Bill Knott