there's a grace for that.

Grace

(Noun)

Theology --

a. The freely given and unmerited favor and love of God.

b. The influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.

c. A virtue or excellence of divine origin.

d. Also called state of grace. The condition of being in God's favor.

What would it be like if morning by morning we woke up committed to bestowing grace on every single person we came into contact with that day? What if we woke up committed to letting the past be the past and challenging ourselves to love and forgive as the Lord loves and forgives? What would it be like if we lived as we are called to live and really truly were enabled to be Christ to the nations? Are we not capable or are we not willing?

Are we willing to forget that offensive comment that was said in half-jest to us last night and are we equipping ourselves to love that person anyway as if nothing was ever said? Are we willing to forget that yesterday we had a bad thought about ourselves and today will be a day where we give God honor by loving how He created us? Are we capable of loving our mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and friends who have praised and condemned us out of the same mouth? Are we willing to look beyond the discrepancies, insecurities and ungodly beliefs that say we are something that we actually are not?

God says yes. He says we are both capable and He has also made us willing. And here's why: We were created in the image of Christ, who day in and day out did those very same things. He loved unconditionally. He healed willingly. He walked by faith and not by sight. He provided the impossible. He withheld nothing. He was honest. He embodied the fruit of the spirit. He trusted God to do things bigger than he could have ever imagined. And then came the day that it was over for him. On that day he put forth a challenge and said that those that followed Him were capable and called to do all that he did and more for the betterment of the Kingdom.

When I look at someone else, I should want better for them than I want for myself. I should love them unconditionally. I think as Christians we say "unconditional" and don't really mean "unconditional", but that does in fact mean that there's nothing you can throw my way that will discourage my effort to be in covenant with you. That is unconditional. That is Biblical. That is Jesus.

But I'm hurt! There's a grace for that. But I'm tired. There's a grace for that. But I've never been good at reaching out. There's a grace for that. But I've been through a lot. There's a grace for that. But I don't have a powerful voice. There's a grace for that.

We have to make the choice to be proactive about walking in grace. Or else there will be an excuse for every decision that we have to make. It's easy to make excuses, but we're empowered to walk in grace. We have to make the choice to stop doing what's easy and start doing what we've been called to do.

It's not about you. It's not about me. It's about reaching the seemingly unreachable. And we're only going to be able to do it by grace.