We could talk all day long about the beautiful word GRACE in regards to Jesus and His death on the cross so you and I are forgiven for our sins. We could talk all day long, lingering on the word GRACE as we let it melt into our hearts and and break away the walls that keep us from living a life totally at the throne of our King.
It is GRACE that God pours out on us even though we fail Him every day.
It is GRACE that God pours on us even though we don’t fully understand why He forgives the ugliest parts of our heart.
It is Grace that God pours out on us because He loves us with a fierce and jealous love. His GRACE welcomes us back into the presence of the Almighty King after we’ve walked away and lived in our own self-gratifying manner.
It really doesn’t stop there, though. It doesn’t stop with us accepting that GRACE, living our life for Him and feeling good about it. We are called to EXTEND GRACE.
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. {Matthew 18:21-22}
I encourage you to keep reading on in Matthew 18 and the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant. How often do we quickly forget the great GRACE God poured out on us when someone else wrongs us or hurts our heart? It is tempting to allow ourselves to go down the road of anger — maybe rage — plotting and planning how we will prevail in the ugly situation. But Jesus is unequivocal in His commands that we are to forgive and keep forgiving because HE FIRST forgave us.
As I’ve worked through the concept of EXTENDING GRACE, God has given me a lens to look through in order to attempt to peek behind the motives of those in need of my GRACE. Sometimes I’ve looked through that lens of GRACE to see a heart that is hurting; the only way they know how to proceed is by lashing out at others. Sometimes I’ve looked through that lens of GRACE to see that intentions are not mean or vicious, but that there are other circumstances factoring into behaviors– things in the bigger picture.
Ask God to give you a lens of GRACE to look through so that you might obey the Seventy-Seven times command in Mathew 18.
EXTEND GRACE…
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~When someone cuts you off and flips the bird in rush hour traffic on the way home from a hectic day. Look through the lens of GRACE and say a prayer that person might find rest and relaxation after such a stressful day.
~When a friend ditches you for a “better” more exciting Saturday night. Look through the lens of GRACE and forgive, knowing that rejection by a friend doesn’t define you.
~When your boss passes you over for a promotion. Look through the lens of GRACE, continue to work your hiney off and be a great employee. Know that God’s got your back and has great things in store for those who love and adore Him.
~When you and your sibling have a knock down, blow out fight. Look through the lens of GRACE and ask for forgiveness. Do whatever you can to patch up the situation. Family is one of God’s wonderful gifts.
It’s not always fun or pleasant to step back, take a breath, look through the lens and EXTEND GRACE. The immediate gratification of anger or revenge tempts and draws us into a place that will lead to only darkness and separation from God.
Who do you need to EXTEND GRACE to today?
So, what do you think? Is this a toughy for you? Leave a comment and let’s chat about it!
Oh man is this a tough one! Such a good topic! I need to have that lens of grace to look through. As the saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover”. You never know the reason behind why someone acts they way they do…they may be going through something that we do not see!
Exactly! I couldn’t have said it better, myself. Great stuff, Kristen!
I need to look through the lens at my professors. They are both so, for lack of better word, mean to the point where my stomach is a mess just having to go to their classes. I really am trying though, but it’s hard, and I constantly ask Jesus how He does it with me ;)
Great topic!
Kelsey
Oh Kelsey, my heart hurts for you. That’s not a fun feeling to have to walk into a class that makes you nervous like that. Just know that this too shall pass and you only have to deal with these mean profs for a semester. Keep clinging to Jesus and ask for His ultimate peace on you when you walk into the room and start class. Hugs!
Actually this morning was such a King Size God Thing. Last night I was praying for Him to help me show grace towards my professors and be more understanding; this morning, I got the email notification that you’d posted this new topic on “Grace”. And today both classes were complete 180’s in the teachers’ attitudes, it was so amazing! Thank you so much for sharing and being such a strong woman of God! :)
Awesome!
Some days are definitely easier than others to extend grace but I see myself extending grace more often than in years past. God has been teaching me so much about grace over the last year and how to extend it even when I don’t feel like it.
Yes…extending grace even when we don’t feel like it is hard to do. But, when we trust that God will bless us in our obedience, it makes the task more bearable. :)
Yes , such a toughie… I am having a hard time extending Grace to the women i babysit for.. the situation is such a mess right now.. and I have a feeling she lied to me.. but am not 100 percent sure. or when she cancels on you and you had opportunities to have other jobs.. but said no cause you thought you were babysitting.
Meg, yes…that would be a tough situation! I encourage you to ask God to give you wisdom in how to handle your employer when you feel like she is being deceitful. Ask that He would guide you to make the right decisions in taking on extra work when you think your employer doesn’t need you to work that day. He will give you wisdom…just ask. :)
Sometimes extending grace (in certain situations) is a real toughy for me, especially when I feel like I’ve been wronged. It’s funny that you had this is your list: “When your boss passes you over for a promotion. Look through the lens of GRACE, continue to work your hiney off and be a great employee. Know that God’s got your back and has great things in store for those who love and adore Him.”
My boss just passed me over for a promotion because some of my fellow coworkers had told him that I didn’t want it without even asking me, so my boss decided not to even ask me or consider me for the promotion. And while I’m not completely 100% sure that I would have said “YES!!!!!” right on queue if my boss had asked me, I did at least want the courtesy of being respected enough to have been asked about it. All of this has made it harder to get along with my coworker, the one who did get the promotion too, as he is just newly out of High School and has been with the company for half the time I have been. It’s frustrating because I trained my coworker and now he is *trying* to not step on my toes and boss me around, while he’s also still having to ask me how things should be/get done. Anyways, I know that I need to have grace, for my boss an this particular coworker. It’s been tough, but I know that God MUST have a reason for all of this!
Oh man, Sarah. This really stinks. I can see how the situation would be weird now at work. Keep your eyes focused on the fact that God has a plan and none of this was a surprise to Him. Trust that His ways are far better than anything we can concoct on our own. Hugs!
I have to say something about this….Extending Grace. I have a hard time in this area. Just recently, a church member made comments to get a reaction from me and to hurt my feelings. Afterwards, she asked me for help. My first response was to say, “NO” but after I thought about it and talking to my mother (true warrior of God) I decided to help her. It was hard but I’m helping her cause.