Grace

The definition of grace - getting something we don’t deserve.

The problem that we can run into with grace is not on the end of the one extending grace. The problem lies in the hands of the one receiving grace. We are incredibly thankful in the moment that someone extends the hand of grace towards us. But how long does that thankfulness last? How long will we be grateful enough to turn around and extend the exact same hand of grace that was just shown to us upon someone else? Far too often we quickly forget how thankful we were the moment that grace was extended to us. We should have a long-term memory in this department, but often our memory can end up being extremely short sided. We can be so quick to forget that when we are faced with the opportunity to extend grace we become reluctant, if not completely opposed to the idea entirely. When a spirit of thankfulness and grace is not treasured up in our hearts and remembered with a sense of humility and meekness, then we will find ourselves turning to a sense of entitlement.  The story of the unmerciful servant found in Matthew 18 is the perfect example of this. Let’s take a look at it…

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

“At this, the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.” Matthew 18:23-24

This servant who had been forgiven all of his debt was thankful in the moment he was extended grace, but instead of fostering a spirit of thankfulness and grace in his heart he was quick to forget. So when the time came for him to extend the hand of grace, chose to extend the hand of judgment instead. In the end, this servant reaped exactly what he had sown. He sowed judgment, therefore he reaped judgment. I would almost guarantee if he had sown grace, he would have continued to reap grace.

Call to action

When grace is handed to us, we should keep records of it. Have you ever considered keeping a grace journal? What would happen if we made a conscious effort to remember those moments of grace by writing them down? Writing things down helps us to remember. And in the moments we forget we have a place we can go to be reminded. We all need reminding of things from time to time and our grace moments are no different. I want to encourage you to keep a record of your grace moments. May the first entry in your grace journal be your salvation. We all know not one of us deserved that kind of love because in the moment we were still sinners Christ died for us!

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Heavenly Father, let us not forget your loving hand of grace that was extended the moment you died on the cross for our sins. Help us to keep a record of the grace moments we encounter so that we do not quickly forget like the servant in Matthew. Help us to willingly extend the hand of grace in the moments we are faced with those situations. We know there are so many situations that people don’t deserve grace, but you have called us to extend the hand of grace. Let us be your example of grace to the world in order to bring them to your feet! Thank you for being our ultimate example of grace. We love you and praise you for your loving hand of grace over our lives. In the precious name of Jesus Christ, we pray.