Wednesday, 02 July 2008
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Learning God's Grace
by mrs lily 
I watched a video lesson recently in which the speaker was sharing about a loved one who is not following Christ. It immediately brought up some serious pain for me, as over the years several of my loved ones have made the decision to reject Christ, and I feel the loss of them everyday. Anyway, the speaker continued by emphasizing a desire that this loved one would “just get it”, and nearly every person in the group I was in musingly agreed; perhaps they were thinking of a person in their own lives that they wished would “just get it together”, too. I do not doubt the sincere intent of the speaker or the people in my group, but it really got me thinking about the miracle that we are even saved at all, and how fortunate we are that He chose to save us, that He allowed us to “get it”. He surely did not have to!
I think sometimes we as Christians get so used to this new life in Christ that we have received that we forget about what a tremendous amount of grace has been extended to us in order for us to even comprehend that we need to be saved. By human standards, what Christ did on the cross and our response to forsake our own lives and follow Christ absolutely does not make sense. Yet we believe because he has chosen to save us!
I know I am guilty of this spiritual pride, not only of judging those who do not believe at all, but even toward my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, who have less understanding than I think I do. But how can I look down on someone who for all know I God has not chosen to show them that particular something yet, or how can I judge their amount of faith when it is only by God’s grace that I have any faith at all? I am sobered by my humanity and astounded by the grace of God.Do you ever take for granted your belief in God's grace? How in the world did we become haughty about something that is a miracle we even believe?
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Comments (9)
culture... cultural conditioning we are always in the midst of... i know this for a fact... our culture does this....
i think we tend to get used to things and then take them for granted. we need to keep reminding ourselves how special what we have really is.
ahh i like this post. I think it is important to understand God's grace for the unity of the church. We need to love others, especially people in the body of Christ the way that God loves them, and that is unconditionally. It really is hard, but when i look at myself, i recognize that I am also full of faults and if it wasn't for Jesus I wouldn't be where I am. So in dealing with others, it's good to be patient. And also understanding that just because someone elses views are different than yours does not mean that your view is superior in anyway. they are just different. God made us all different and unique but calls us to be unified in our differences.
We are not self-sufficient, we need god's love and mercy, just like we need other people in the body of Christ if we are to do God's will.
Division is a trademark of the enemy.
Be the difference. Be unified with the body of Christ as you are with God, and God's love will be shown and manifested for others to see and give glory to God.
Thank you for posting this. It was a wonderful reminder for me and something I've been struggling with the last while. It's so dumb...we were all created equal. I just keep praying that God would give me His love for people...both saved and unsaved. I'm a no body just like everybody else.
we are human and we forget it is NOT about us.....it is about what Jesus did....pure grace
The enemy also takes every chance to insert judgments and condemnations into the flow of our thinking, toward others, but especially toward ourselves. I like to remind myself of two things:
"Therefore, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Messiah and led by His Spirit...." Romans 8
You can't love someone you're judging.
This one really rung bells for me. I tried with continuing frustration to talk to my older brother who was still counting on purgatory as he was dying of cancer. He just didn't get it.
I have led many people to Christ, but there is nothing we really do or say that gets them there. God does it. He touches their hearts first and we just find them as they cross our path.
Grace is an amazing miracle whereby He saved me from my sin. We become "justified". My wife says "just as if I never sinned".
I think we all do, but that doesn't mean that that's the correct way to be.
People take so much for granted...these days especially! We take eachother for granted and most of all we take GOD for granted! It's dispicable, to be honest, but we must remember not to judge eachother, but to reflect most upon ourself and how WE are and try to change ourselves and use ourselves...OUR LIVES to witess to others.
God bless!
Ellen