grace recipients & distributors

It’s a reality of the human nature. Grace desired, but not extended.

That all who look like me, act like me, think like me, speak like me – we’re deserving of grace. Grace that should flow freely within our own community and also from those without. That those people who aren’t on the same side of the fence, well, they should show us grace, too.

But what is preached is often so very hard to put into action.

So how, then, do we show grace to the others?

I’ve wrestled with this over the last few months, and as I have considered and prayed about the issue, the answer came simply: give them the benefit of the doubt.

Maybe that short answer was just the result of a bad day, which I’ve been guilty of before. Maybe, that comment struck a nerve, and the response has to do with personal conviction. Maybe it’s okay, even good, to have different opinions and perspective because God didn’t make any two people the same – and that’s by design.

It was Jesus, the perfect grace-giver, who set a lavish example for us in His darkest moment. He’d endured years of backlash, negative comments, and disbelief during his ministry. And as He hung on a cross, intentionally murdered by a crowd who continued to hurl insults at him, he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

They didn’t understand the full capacity of their actions. Even still, He extended grace long before they would realize their need to ask for it. And if our Savior can extend His grace under such circumstances, and daily to us as our sin is just as offensive, then we have no excuse to withhold an ounce of ours.

To the friend who left a challenging comment on our post, we show grace. To the child whose attitude is spilling over and the spouse who forgot the important date, we show grace. To the family member who refuses to see things our way, to the road-raged stranger who cut us off in traffic, to the customer service representative who keeps placing us on hold… you get the idea.

As recipients of God’s grace, we are distributors of it, too.

For God’s children, the worldly rule “grace for me, but not for thee” does not apply. Instead, we follow in the footsteps of His Son. Our response doesn’t hinge on whether the other party is fully ignorant or entirely aware. Because the beauty of true grace is that it’s never earned or deserved in the first place. It is simply given.

And to whom much (grace) has been given, much (grace) is required.