Grace
1 a : unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification b : a virtue coming from God c : a state of sanctification — the state of growing in divine grace as a result of Christian commitment after baptism or conversion. Sanctify- 1 : to set apart to a sacred purpose or to religious use : consecrate 2 : to free from sin : purify 3 a : to impart or impute sacredness, inviolability, or respect to b : to give moral or social sanction to 4 : to make productive of holiness or piety ) enjoyed through divine grace 2 a : approval, favor b archaic : mercy, pardon c : a special favor : privilege
disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency e : a temporary exemption.- Miriam-Webster definition.
Thinking about grace today and what it means exactly. Reading the definition was a bit confusing to me especially when they used the word in the definition of the word. That’s just mean! Lol!
The part that stood out to me was when the definition stuck the word “sanctification” in it. It got me thinking how Christians have been set apart for a sacred purpose and that purpose is for giving and showing grace to others.
So, we’ve been given this job here on earth. It’s a job we accepted and wanted but yet it sometimes seems impossible to actually do.
The other part that stood out was “…disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency e : a temporary exemption.” To me that says that we should have the character trait if acting in kindness and sharing our temporary exemption with the world. We will have to answer for the sins we’ve committed but we’ve all been given temporary exemptions because of Christ dying for us.
*What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! (Romans 6:15 NKJV)
We live under grace. We have been save by grace.
*For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)
I don’t know why it seems so many Christians feel they have the right to strip grace away (myself included sometimes) from anyone. We judge harshly (as if we don’t know the love and beauty of grace ourselves) and cut people down because we see their sin and they might not be saved from sin. So because we see that they might not know the Savior who died for their sins and are sinning we decide that we are the judge and get to strip them of grace because they don’t know about it.
Ugh. We see that they don’t know grace and don’t show it to them. Right?! How ridiculous is that?! I often don’t even realize I’m being an @$$ and not showing what God so lovingly gave me and therefore end up turning someone who I could have introduced to the One who saved us by His grace away from it and possibly never wanting to know it from my awful example of Christ. I know that no one wants that if they’re a Christian. We are so thankful for the love, forgiveness, and grace that we’ve been so freely given and want others to know it too. It’s never our intention to smack people around with it or hide it away from anyone with ugliness.
I hope I remember these ponderings (my phone is telling me that “ponderings” is not a word, so looks like I’m going rogue here with vocabulary) of mine on a regular basis, as in every minute. I want to give grace to everyone I come in contact with. Even if I’m DRIVING!!!
Ay. Driving. I have terrible road rage. I just want to be alone on the road because NO ONE but ME knows how to drive. HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Anyone going faster than me is stupid and crazy! Anyone going slower than me is a complete moron that got their driver’s license at the K-Mart Blue Light Special sale! Whyyyyyyy?!?!?! I have no clue. I love driving. I LOVE going fast! I love feeling the power of a nicely powered engine as I step on the gas and my body gets pushed into the seat. It’s exhilarating! Throw in a turbo with many many horses and great handling (modded out Subaru WRX STI please :-D) and I am in sheer bliss! Thrilling doesn’t cover it! Ok, back on track now. Sorry, love cars so I’m easily distracted. ANYWAYS! Put me behind the wheel in traffic and you’ll see no sign of grace for anyone else on the road (unless they’re driving a sweet car). My hands and arms will be flapping wildly and so will my jaw as I tell everyone how they SHOULD be driving. Utterly ridiculous.
I don’t know why this is. Maybe I need professional help. But when I am behind the wheel is my worst time for showing grace. If ya’ll feel called, say many prayers for me cause I want to constantly share the grace that I am CONSTANTLY given.
Hope your day is perfectly lovely (even though it’s a Monday where I am).
May you all know the grace that has been given through love that none of us will ever fully comprehend.
blissfullyawareoflife 