“EGR” – Extra Grace Required
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Matthew 5:43-48 ESV)
I was working away on my computer at work. All seemed okay, until I was looking for a query to run. The file was gone. It was just there yesterday. What happened? Who deleted it? I spoke to one of my co-workers, but she did not know either. So all that was left to do was recreate the work-sheets and the queries. It took me all day! Wasted time; time I really did not have to waste.
A week later, another file was gone. I was very upset and wrote an email to my group. Lets just say that my email was not received well by my supervisor. I was reprimanded! I may could have handled in a nicer way, but after all, I am human. I was under extreme time pressure getting projects done. AND I was rattled that another file was gone.
We are currently working through Matthew 5 at church. I have to admit, that ‘loving my enemy’ is a very hard Scripture for me to follow. But Jesus said: “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matthew 5:46). Jesus is right! We cannot love just those who love us back. We should also love those who are our enemies. No matter what it takes. “EGR” is what my pastor calls it; Extra Grace Required!
Honestly, it is easier for me to grant grace to my brother or sister of faith. They understand that we are all living under the banner of God’s grace. But then again, others who are not followers of Christ, need to see that we are different. We should handle stressful situations better and more thoughtful than just bursting out in anger.
How do you handle stressful situations? Do you fly off the handle or do work with “EGR”? I know it is hard sometimes to show the world that we belong to a loving Father, but we need to remember that we sometimes need that extra grace as well.
Lord of Mercy and Grace. I come before You today to ask that You help me in moments when my flesh is weak and I want to burst out in anger. Help me to apply extra grace to the ones that are not following You and Your Word. You have placed us in this world to show what it means to live under grace! I am trusting in Your mercy. In the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Photo and Content Copyright © – Iris Nelson
Lovely prayer my friend.
I needed to read this today,Iris. Thanks for the reminder !
Dear Iris, I so needed this today, I need to have more and more peace and patience with everyone, and that only comes through constant communion with the Holy Spirit, Blessings Gloria