Today, I’m simply reflecting on what I’m continuing to learn—and inviting you to listen in to my internal conversation. Here are some things I continue to learn about grace:
- I don’t understand it yet. Grace is so beyond my human thinking that I’m sure I’ll never fully grasp it. And, if I ever do reach the point where I think I understand it, I’ll probably have wrongly reduced it to my level.
- Grace forgives my yesterdays, encourages my today, and gives me hope for tomorrow. That is, grace is not just a concept; it’s a life-changing, eternity-affecting gift of the Lord. It ought to humble and amaze us.
- Grace is both forgiving and freeing. In the words of Heath Lambert, “God’s grace pardons you and forgives your sin, and God’s grace empowers you to live differently and be obedient to him.”* Both aspects of grace are significant.
- It’s grace that drives me to want to commune with God through spiritual disciplines. It’s not because I’m so spiritual that I read the Word and pray; it’s because God grants me grace to long for Him. That same grace, by the way, removes any excuse I have for not spending time with God.
- Grace is most evident in the cross, but we often find reminders of grace within relationships with believers. I’m both ashamed and grateful to think of the number of times I’ve sinned against a brother or sister in Christ who later offered me undeserved forgiveness. Relationships put flesh on grace.
- The most grace-filled people I know speak with kindness and gentleness. You just know they’re covered in God’s grace by the way they talk with people. Even when they confront you, you almost welcome their input because you know it’s wrapped in grace.
- The glory of grace is also an obstacle to belief for many around the world. That’s because man-made religion is works-based, and grace is a foreign concept to most of us. Only grace helps us understand grace.
What are you learning about grace these days?
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* Heath Lambert, Finally Free: Fighting for Purity with the Power of Grace (p. 22). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
I’m learning that grace doesn’t always look like I expect it or want it to look.
The Holy Spirit has been focusing my attention on our indispensable need for grace and the different ways that God shows us grace in this season of my life.