GRACE – I love this word.
I used to think that grace was all to do with being courteous and elegant. However, as a Christian, I see this word carry such a profound meaning which dictionaries don’t do justice to. Grace as defined by the Bible speaks of God’s favour toward the unworthy. God’s grace is different from the grace we show. God’s grace is divine. While I could never see myself as an elegant person but I can clearly identify myself with the unworthy who has received God’s unmerited favour. To be honest it is not easy to fully understand Biblical grace but I find great encouragement when I come across verses that speak of grace. Ephesians 2:8 speaks of how we are saved by the grace of God through faith and that this grace isn’t something that we earn but purely receive as a gift of God. If I honestly search my heart I will find more reasons to hide from the almighty God than claim any sort of favour from Him. It can be exhausting trying to win God’s favour as all human efforts can never amount to anything in front of a righteous God. But God accepts us the way we are; flaws and all, such is His love. This brings immense comfort to me. So, I am more than happy to receive God’s grace as a gift by accepting Lord Jesus as my saviour.
When I was trying to come up with a name for my blogsite – ‘led by grace’ is what came to me first. My life is a testimony of someone who was shown grace when I least deserved it. Now as the years have brought on more spiritual maturity, I feel we should also ‘lead by grace’. I find that it is easy to be led by grace as Christ is doing the leading and I just need to obediently follow him. And if it ever becomes difficult to obey His calling, I just need to remind myself that the one who has called me has equipped me with all his grace (Ephesians 4:7) and his grace is sufficient for me (2 Corinthians 12:9). But as Christians we are not just to passively receive these wonderful gifts from God, we are called to outwardly display it. The grace that Christ has shown towards us, we are to extend that to others as an expression of love.
Now here’s my secret, I am good at extending grace to strangers, acquaintances and even friends but when it comes to family and those very close to me, grace doesn’t come easy. When offended, my responses maybe one that lacks patience, empathy and kindness. My family see me at my weakest and my strongest. Emotionally I allow myself to be most vulnerable at home. It’s my safe haven from the outside world. So, when tested and tempted, grace is the last thing and raw emotions take over and I fail to exhibit Christ like grace.
As a mother, I find my reservoir of patience go empty very quickly! To give an example, I would have just delivered a carefully worded speech to my kids about showing kindness and grace to one another and see those little puppy faces nod in unison and ten minutes later they are at it again looking at each other with utter contempt over a piece of some plastic. And I ask myself, do I repeat the whole speech again or do I just continue sipping my coffee. As tempting as the latter option maybe, I have to remind myself that just like me they need constant reminders. And these reminders when done with grace proves far more effective than responding with a threat or a roar! God uses these precious moments as a training ground for us as parents to show grace. Motherhood is a marathon and not a sprint. There may never be quick successes, but just like a marathon, it is a test of endurance and perseverance. So, if I can extend grace in situations that call otherwise, my kids notice that. And slowly but surely there will be a reward. It won’t happen overnight, but with God’s help and sincere labour there will be good fruit.
Another thing that the Lord has taught me is that in order to show grace we have to choose to be humble.The tempers go flaring when we take things personally. A prideful heart, and a resolve to be always right never likes to be offended and would stoop to any measure to prove they are right. Grace seems far removed from their conscience. Pride has to take a backseat when it comes to showing grace. An attitude of grace looks at the other person and understands that you are no better than them and that it’s only by God’s grace we are where we are. If we truly believe this our pride would pave way for humility. And we can then truly extend grace like the way the Lord shows his grace towards us.
2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
