"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age."

"So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."

Picture a house that's been built on a foundation meant only to meet minimum building codes. The contractor calculated exactly how little concrete he could pour and still pass inspection. The walls are just thick enough to avoid failure. Every beam, every nail, every support is the bare minimum required by law. Now imagine living in that house during a storm. Would you feel safe? Would you trust it to protect your family?

That's what happens when we build our faith on permission instead of perfection. We're asking, "What's the least I can do?" when God is offering, "Here's the most you can become." The Pharisees waved their divorce certificates like building permits, thinking they'd constructed righteousness. But Jesus looked past their paperwork to their hearts and saw structures built to barely stand instead of built to last forever.

This week we've walked a difficult path together. We've seen how looking for loopholes reveals Pharisee-like hearts. We've discovered that hard hearts make everything harder. We've learned the difference between contract thinking and covenant living. We've faced the convicting question of minimum versus maximum. Now we arrive at the most important question of all: What's holding you back from the maximum Jesus longs to give you?

Because here's what's incredible about grace. Grace is not permission to sin. Grace is power to transform. Just like Titus says, grace appeared not to give us a license but to train us. Grace doesn't say, "Go ahead and get close to the edge." Grace says, "Let me build something in you that exceeds anything you thought possible."

So right now, consider where you stand. Some of you have been treating Jesus like the Pharisees treated Moses, looking for what you can get away with instead of receiving what He died to give. He's offering salvation, the maximum love provided at the cross, and you're still calculating if you can earn it or if you deserve it. Stop asking permission to come to Jesus. He's already given maximum invitation.

Some of you are in marriages where hardness has crept in like concrete setting around your heart. You've been looking for exits when God is offering restoration. That covenant you made wasn't minimum commitment. It was maximum promise. What if today you asked God to break up the hard ground and plant something new?

And some of you know Jesus, you're committed to your relationships, but you've been living minimum discipleship when maximum impact is possible. God isn't asking, "What's the least you can do?" He's asking, "What's the most My love can do through you?"

The path from permission to perfection isn't about trying harder. It's about treasuring what you've been given so much that you can't help but give it away. It's about moving from waving certificates to embracing the cross. From seeking minimum requirements to celebrating maximum grace.

Choose one relationship or responsibility where you've been operating on minimum permission and make a maximum love decision today. Don't just meet the requirement. Shatter it with the kind of love that can only come from someone who's been transformed by grace.