Recently, I had the great privilege of speaking to a beautiful group of parents who gather every month to support each other around a troubling issue concerning their children. I was so blessed by their love, transparency and earnestness in seeking God’s direction on how to parent as they face this seemingly insurmountable challenge. I prayed like a crazy woman about what to say. You see, they invited me as the “expert” to address their group, but little did they realize that they are in fact the experts because they are walking this difficult journey every day. As I prayed about what to say, I had a strong sense that the Lord wanted me to speak on grace.
The Lord has been teaching me a lot about grace lately and it’s beautiful. Jesus’ grace washed the feet of His traitor. Jesus’ grace tells us to love our enemies and bless those who curse us. His grace showed compassion for the sinner and contempt for the religious. His grace shows us unconditional love when we turn away and worship our idols. This is the grace that sets us apart from the world. This is the grace that changes the world. And it’s not that we don’t speak the truth or that we condone sin. John 1:14 says that Jesus came down from the Father and was full of grace and truth. Yet oftentimes our truth is not spoken in love and our truth is all the world hears. We’re heavy on truth and light on grace.
So I want to encourage you to give grace liberally as He did – to your children, to your spouse, to your Christian friends, to non-believers and watch how He’ll change lives through you. And trust me, it’ll be tough. It may even be impossible. So impossible that I actually hope you can’t do it. So that the God who said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness,” will step in and do it for you, because that’s just the kind of God He is.
Add Comment