Because We All Need Grace

I started selling homeschooling books. Maybe not the best decision when you’re in the middle of moving. I had found old clothes, sorted through the attic, packed boxes, all the while attending to the everyday chaos of 4 children.  Boxes everywhere, dozens of little random toys with no home. I had sorted books to keep and books to sell into separate piles. Maybe they got mixed up in the hustle. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention. It was all a bit overwhelming.

I didn’t pack all the books in the right box. A homeschooling mom, who expected to get the right books in the mail, was highly disappointed.

I had packed the books to sell in the boxes to move. It was my mistake.

Sometimes your days are a bit overwhelming and you are in need of a little grace.

Grace is what I was given.

Instead of an email filled with disappointment and hate over the missing books, it was filled with grace.

I know life can be busy and I know how you feel in transition. Just send the books when you unpack them in a few weeks.  I will be praying for you.

I had read the lines over and over. Tears filled my eyes. Not everyday someone extends grace. Not everyday someone overlooks your failures and gives mercy.

I had failed. Grace was extended when I did not deserve it.

Such a simple act, but came at a time I so needed. Little did this woman know I was going through the toughest transition in my entire life. Grace, where I thought should be extended was not. Relationships with history were crumbling away and my heart ached. Where was the grace?

Why do we so easily extend grace to someone we hardly know, yet forge our love ones through the fire of our disapproval?

This week I meditate on, “grace after grace from His fullness.” John emphasized grace. The law came through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus. If we emphasize the law, we miss the point.

Grace needs to be given to our children. Grace needs to be given to the ones who hurt us. Grace needs to be extended to the spouse who is short-tempered. Grace, even when it is difficult, needs to be given to the one who sits next to you in the pew. And grace should be given to yourself when you feel you don’t measure up.

Grace should never be minimized. The law should never come before grace.

Grace and truth came through Jesus.

Without truth we have no grace. They go hand in hand.

If truth isn’t spoken in grace, then is it truth at all? Does it become untrue?

Spat words without grace poison the atmosphere, cause division and tear a person down. Grace and truth…one without the other and you have no gospel.

The Amplified reads, “gifts upon gifts.”

Doors slam. Bickering between siblings won’t stop. Tension builds. A friend betrays. Lies spoken. Hurt and disappointment rise within your heart. Feeling alone and uncertain. Even in these moments He never stops heaping grace upon grace.

Gifts upon gifts.  Always more.

Grace never runs dry. It never stops coming.

Are we living our lives with arms open wide ready to receive His gifts? Better yet are we living a life heaping gifts upon each other or are we living with arms closed protecting ourselves?

The world needs to see a church full of grace and truth. Even when grace was not extended and truth was nowhere to be found He never stops heaping grace upon grace. Jesus has more for you. He gives us the strength to extend grace. He gives us the strength to place relationships before proving a point. If we operate from His fullness…through the resurrection power of Jesus, we can love deeper and extend grace to ones in need.

Today let’s choose to live our lives from a place of grace and truth. Arms open wide ready to receive and even wider ready to give. Extending grace instead of throwing a stone, you never know how you could impact one’s life. This my friend is the gospel…