(This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s message: Grace for All…Grace Upsets- LISTEN HERE)
I crave grace.
I am not perfect. I fail. I don’t meet expectations. I have a lot of opportunities to grow as a person and as a Christian. I repeat activities or lack of activities that I should stop or start doing…and wish I could always get it right.
I crave grace.
I crave the forgiveness of people to recognize my human weakness and my sinful nature. I crave forgiveness when I fail, even when it’s the 100th time. I crave grace that is freely given and not deserved or earned.
Because living without grace is living in fear of the next mistake, in fear of failing, in fear of ruining relationships.
I crave grace.
Grace is not an excuse to continue in the sin that plagues you. It’s not the cover for complacency or lack of learning and growing and getting better. Grace is not a license to be selfish and demand others adapt and adjust and then forgive your intentional and willful sin. Grace is not a pass to cash in when you want to give in to your sinful nature.
I crave grace not only to cover my failures but to motivate the improvement and change that is desired. Grace communicates confidence that change can take place. Grace communicates that failing forward is an option. Grace communicates the relationship is what is most important.
Not only do I crave grace…but my guess is you do too.
The blessings and benefits of God’s grace are exactly what we need and exactly what he gives. But I don’t want to just receive them from God, I want to freely give the same grace I have received to the people in my life.
Your spouse…needs God’s grace AND your grace. Your kids need God’s grace AND your grace. Your coworkers, friends and classmates need God’s grace AND your grace. Your church family needs God’s grace AND your grace. Even the person who is mean on social media, cuts you off in traffic or acts rude at a kids sporting event needs God’s grace and your grace.
Grace comes from a heart of love. It is God’s kind of love. It is God’s love that sent Jesus into the world as the epitome of grace and the greatest gift of grace. God’s grace looks like what the Apostle Paul wrote of in 1 Corinthians 13:
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Without grace, we become just the opposite…impatient, unkind, jealous, rude, prideful, demeaning to others, self-centered, quick to anger, keep a record of wrongs, deceitful, skeptical, hopeless and feeling like giving up.
I don’t want any of that.
It’s why I crave grace.
Apply: Why do you crave grace? What can you do to show grace more to others?
Prayer: Lord thank you for freely giving the grace I crave. Spirit of God, empower me to show the same grace to the people in my life. AMEN.