Conditional Grace

 

In the world of faith, we hear allot about grace. We see grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus on the cross; dying a criminal’s death for our sins and allowing us to be in relationship with God.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God”— Ephesians 2:8

It is truly a gift from God. A gift none of us really deserve. It’s humbling to sit with that for a bit. It’s this amazing, beautiful, incredible gift that God has given us.

But there’s more.  Grace doesn’t just save us…it transforms us.

“For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people.  And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God,  while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.” -Titus 2:11-14

Not only do we receive this incredible gift from God, but we are to live grace filled lives, committed to being devoted to God and loving others.

We’re ok with that to a certain point.

Extending grace and love to people we see who are in need can be life giving. Helping those who are humble and kind can be a wonderful experience.

But extending grace, love and kindness to someone we feel is “less deserving” can be a difficult experience.

Even the “difficult” people in our lives are easier to be grace filled towards. Those family members or friends who might be a little rough around the edges, that we find easier to love, because we know their “back story”.

The grace God gives us is unconditional and so is the grace he asks us to extend to others.

So yes, that difficult, cranky, argumentative person at work that rubs you the wrong way is exactly who God wants you to extend grace to.

Yes, that judgmental, critical, meddling neighbor that puts you on your defensive every time, is exactly who God expects you to be grace filled to.

Now, this doesn’t mean letting people abuse or walk all over you, but it can be as simple as not engaging in the way you really want to.

Sometimes extending grace is simply walking away from an argument.

Sometimes grace is offering kindness when all someone has given you is difficulty.

Tough stuff.

"Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.  Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."-2 Corinthians 12:8-9

Did you hear that? Gods grace is all we need because HIS power works best in our weakness. The apostle Paul knew, that to be a follower of Christ, it would mean functioning outside of our own capabilities and strength.

What is stretching your patience? Who might you need to extend grace to, but you can’t find the capability or strength?

Is your grace conditional? Do you only extend grace to the people who are easy to extend grace to? If that’s the case, we’re living an incomplete faith.

We may not know the “back story” of the person who just cut us off and flashed hand signals we know we didn’t learn in drivers’ education. We may not know the behind-the-scenes life of the person who seems to make it a hobby to criticize everything they see.

We may not be privy to the life events going on in the lives of the difficult people who cross our path.

Paul was given the incredible gift of grace in a big way before he was a very loveable or likable person. In 1 Timothy 1:16 Paul says “But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.”

Our extension of grace is an example to others of the love of God. It doesn’t mean we condone bad behavior or sinful actions. It means that in leaning into Gods strength we show love to those around us. We lead by example. Paul knew that his hardened heart was healed through the love of Christ. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we too have the ability to soften the difficult and hardened hearts around us through grace and love. Where might you begin today?

 

-Pastor Patti