Extending Grace To Others

One of the most significant and powerful verses in all of scripture is Romans 5:8. “God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  God accepts us as we are. Not only did God demonstrate His grace by dying for us, but He does it day by day, sometimes in ways we probably may not even recognize. His grace is very patient with us. A former pastor of mine made this statement: “God has a lot of dysfunctional children.” This is so true. Since we all fall far short of God’s righteous standard, we are all spiritually dysfunctional in so many ways. Yet God’s grace go beyond who we are or what we have done to gradually molding us into the person we can become.

As Christians, we should extend that grace to others, as we deal with difficult people. There are those who try our patience. People have things in their lives we cannot change. When we are quick to find fault with someone else, we must look in the mirror to see our own faults. They may be different from theirs, but things are still there in need of God‘s grace to change. Did you ever hear the saying, “When you point your finger at another person, there are three fingers pointing back at you.”

We must spiritually mature to the point where we see others as God sees them. That is not easy, is it? Our failure to see ourselves as God sees us stands in the way. God in His patience may take a lifetime to change a person, but we would rather see the change quickly. God‘s grace to each person is expressed in Psalm 103:8-14, “ The Lord is merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

As Christians, we cannot even begin to come close to extending the level of grace to others that God gives to each one of us. However, the opposite of grace is judgment, and nothing good will ever come out of judging others. Grace is being patient. It is being forgiving. It is not holding the past against another. Grace is helping others seeing themselves as God sees them but knowing that they are still loved by God. There is a saying that goes, “God’s grace will accept you as you are, but will not leave you that way.” True grace is seeing what a person can become under the power of the Holy Spirit, coupled with them seeing the fruit of the Holy Spirit evidenced in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23).

If we are dealing with non-believers, extending God‘s grace to them could be the first step in directing them to the Savior. Titus 2:11-12 says, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce all godlessness and worldly passions, and to live self- controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.”  We are all in the same boat. However, some have accepted the free gift of God’s grace. Some have not.

I hope and pray that you are one who is allowing God grace to work in your life. The first step is to accept Jesus as your Savior. Then you will see His grace at work over a period of time.

If you are a Christian already, is there anything in your life that is standing in the way of seeing God‘s grace at work?