The Faith Place

I’ve been thinking about grace alot lately and for quite awhile.

It has been awhile since I last posted and I had this thought even since then.

Grace will have you doing some pretty crazy things that you didn’t think you would do.

It will have you burdened for somebody you really don’t like that much. (Yes, I admit I don’t like everybody, and let’s be honest not everybody likes me.)

But grace will have you interceding and going to spiritual battle for the people you least expect.

That’s when I thought of that phrase “grace for grace.”

I would not be able to give grace in those moments had I not received grace.

I would not even know how to begin to empathize with the person that might bother me or just rub me the wrong way had it not been for God demonstrating grace to me.

You see we are all flawed and in need of God’s grace, so how can we withhold the very thing that we stand in need of?

So in order to give others grace we need to first recieve grace.

It is by receiving grace that we can ever begin to learn what it means to give grace to others.

This is such a simple principle, but when you break it down it applies to many attributes of the Christian walk.

For instance, in order to love others the way God intended we must first fully experience the love of God.

So where does that leave you and me?

Well I wonder what is our perspective of God’s grace and have we fully comprehended the magnitude and depth of the grace of God on our lives?

I know that I have not grasped it completely yet.

But I do believe it starts inward.

We must recognize and try to see ourselves how God sees us so that we may begin to see others the way He sees them.

Many of us walk around in our own self inflicted condemnation and therefore it makes it easier to criticize and condemn others.

What is in our hearts will come out.

We need God to change our hearts so that we can live free from the lies of the enemy that tell us we are unworthy of the love and grace of God.

Grace is receiving what we do not deserve.

If each one of us has received grace then that means we have all been undeserving.

That means that we are no better than anybody else.

God doesn’t have favorites. He will pour out his love, mercy, and grace to all of us.

In order to be like Christ we must be ready and willing to do the same.

Even when it is hard.

Even if we don’t like them.

Even if we don’t agree with their lifestyle.

That doesn’t mean we accept evil for good and let sin go unchecked.

But we can still show grace to others without watering down what God has called us to be as Christians.

I pray that today you will be overwhelmed by just how much God loves you and just how much grace He has given you and is willing to give you.

Let’s Pray

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you so much for the grace that you have given me!

I want to see others the way that you see them, but God help me to see myself the way that you see me.

Help me to overcome these lies the enemy speaks over me so that when I see others I don’t see the accusations of the enemy, but I see your heart for them.

You have already given me so much grace, and I ask that you would give me grace for grace to the people who I don’t like… the people that I struggle to see the good in…the people that I have wrongly seen as unworthy…even the people who have made me angry or done me wrong.

I want to be like Christ and I know that this is part of the process.

So, teach me and lead me into more grace for others.

In Jesus name I pray, Amen!