But by God's grace I am what I am

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. There are so many things that I love about this verse. I think that you all know that I am a proponent of work, and frankly tell you that there is no way to short-cut your way to the benefits received from doing the work. Paul credits the work that he did to the grace which God gave him, and it was that grace that enabled him to do the work. Now, just prior to this verse, Paul makes what would have to be a difficult confession: he said that he was the least of the apostles and unworthy to be called an apostle. Because when Paul was Saul, he persecuted the church of God which was in Jerusalem. He was responsible for the death of a number of saints. And what ties these two verses together is this, "But by the grace of God I am what I am."
I think at times what I might be were it not for the grace of God, but by God's grace I am what I am, and I'm coming to terms with what I am. I also think about the fact, that I don't want God's grace extended to me to be in vain. Sometimes I get to thinking that it is my work, but that isn't true. Whatever we do for God, while we work God is right there beside us providing the grace that we need to accomplish our work for Him.