friday freefall

Do you ever fall into the trap of thinking you have to earn God's love and acceptance?

yes. occasionally

Where do you think that faulty thinking comes from?

a lack of complete understanding of the truth of grace and an over-dependence on the law, which seems easier to grasp.
This or that, no "maybe" or "sometimes" involved.
Black and white is easy to judge.
Grace means thinking is involved and grace means judgement from others is more likely. Grace is subjective and leaves room for error.
Law does not.

What does "saved by grace" mean to you?

It means it isn't ME but, rather, BY - a substitution.

If BY were a verb, it would be a helping verb
If BY were a pronoun, it would take the place of a noun (read: me)
If BY is a preposition, it is an action word (read: HE died for me)

If God were to ask you why He should let you into heaven, what would you say?
~it's only by Your love and it's only through Your mercy, Lord, I come