Grace

“What you truly believe about grace is revealed in how you respond to the person who needs it the most and deserves it the least. Anything else is just pious talk.”

I’ve looked into the source and discovered it’s been shared too many times to find the original author. And that’s okay. Read it again if needed. Let it soak. Invite it to challenge you. It’s packed.

It’s important to know what grace is, and that’s difficult. It’s not easy to fully grasp grace. We experience it in different ways over time. It affects our lives in many contexts and timing. We struggle to give it as well as to receive it. We are thankful to receive it, yet humbled. We anticipate the implications of extending it, yet we wonder how it will be received or what will be assumed by the recipient.

Grace is not a blanket approval. It’s not a pervasive, “Everything’s okay.” It’s a strand of compassion, forgiveness, and understanding through messy situations. Grace doesn’t sweep anything under the rug. It acknowledges the dirt and the frayed edges, and it seeks to work with it all instead of working around it all.

Grace is intentional. It’s powerful. It’s personal.

God defines it and perhaps is the only one who fully grasps it, yet he invites us to hold it in our hands and hearts. Read the opening quote again. Let it wash over you. Let it refresh and strengthen you as well as humble and challenge you.

Grace will change you if you are willing.