Sinner Saved By Grace

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I’ve noticed that my mood on a given day is 100% tied to how much I’ve accomplished recently. If someone asks me how my day’s going, they may as well be asking how productive I’ve been. But the satisfaction of getting stuff done is only temporary.

Working as an artist can be pretty soul-crushing. The work is fun, but it puts me in a position where my success (and income) basically depends on whether people like me, whether my random basket of skills has impressed anyone lately. These vulnerable, treasured pieces of myself end up alongside so many other voices competing for people’s attention. I’m constantly improving, but constantly have something to prove.

This song is a reminder to myself that my value and my identity come from a different place entirely.

I’m often not sure how to feel when I encounter Christian messages. Is it empowering, or just flattery? Is it convicting, or just guilt-tripping? But I like to think this song strikes a nice balance: Yes, I am valuable, but not because of anything I accomplished myself. Yes, I am a sinner, but certainly not beyond God’s outrageous grace. I matter because I matter to God, and he’ll go to great lengths to prove it.

<a href="https://markflowerdew.bandcamp.com/album/lets-go" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Let’s Go by Mark Amadeus Flowerdew</a>

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Thanks for listening! Please consider buying too, as streaming sites hardly pay artists.

Lyrics

I don’t need to figure out who I should try to be
I am not defined by all that others say of me
I am not the sum of all the things that I can do
I’m a broken child who turned away from sin to you

I am a sinner saved by grace
For all my sins have been replaced
And all I want to do is gaze upon your glorious face
You are the one who set me free
For by some holy mystery
You bled and died to save some
Weary poor lost sinner just like me
There’s nothing that can alter who I am
‘Cause you have made me a clean man

Why should I be weighed down by my pride and my regret?
Successes in my right hand and failures in my left
There’s more to life than trying to be the best that I can be
The only thing that I can say is what you have said of me

I am a sinner saved by grace
For all my sins have been replaced
And all I want to do is gaze upon your glorious face
You are the one who set me free
For by some holy mystery
You bled and died to save some
Weary poor lost sinner just like me
There’s nothing that can alter who I am
‘Cause you have made me a clean man

[trombone solo]

You are the one who set me free
For by some holy mystery
You bled and died to save some
Weary poor lost sinner just like me
There’s nothing that can alter who I am
‘Cause you have made me a clean man,
A clean man, a clean man,
A clean man

A sinner saved by grace is who I am
‘Cause you have made me a clean man