Where does GRACE abound?
It’s true…WE ARE ALL SINNERS…
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
None of us are perfect. In fact, all of us mess up, even AFTER we pray the sinner’s prayer and accept Jesus in our heart. Too many people forget that no one is capable of being perfect, except God. Too often, we say we love people, but yet, have no grace for their shortcomings.
If you don’t agree with that, just think back to your recent family Christmas. Who got on your nerves this year? Was it Uncle Bob and his loud and irritating laugh? Or was it Cousin Sarah and her whiney children, who by the way didn’t even bring any gifts for anyone? Who did you just tolerate at the dinner table, but later as you scraped plates, exchanged verbal disapproval with your sister?
Truth be told, many of us love our families, but often times have very little grace for them. Uncle Bob just may be loud and irritating because he is covering up some deep rooted hurt in his life. And Cousin Sarah and her whiney kids…they couldn’t bring any gifts this year because daddy left them for another woman and the mortgage company just repossessed their house. The person whose lifestyle you so disapprove of may be doing the things they are doing because they are looking for love in all the wrong places.
GRACE…what ever happened to extending grace to others? Have we forgotten what grace means?
The Bible says in Romans 5:20, “Where sin abounds, grace abounds more.” So if Romans 3:23 says that we are ALL sinners, then shouldn’t we have grace for EVERYBODY?
Not everyone is going to like us, or be kind to us, or be honest with us, or treat us nice. Not everyone is going to be patient with us. Not everyone is going to forgive us. Or trust us. But no matter how many times we fall, we falter, and mess up. No matter how many times we fail someone, or they fail us….it is nice to know that we can shake ourselves off, ask for forgiveness and be granted another chance.
As I read further in scripture, in Romans, it says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound more?” (Romans 6:1) Grace does not give us the authority to sin. In fact, as a believer we should be striving to be more like Christ, not more like the world.
As believers, we are redeemed once and for all upon salvation. But as humans living here on earth, we are exposed to sin each and every day. But I love the guarantee that Romans 5:20 gives us, even though we are a part of this world, a sinful world, that just keeps getting worse and worse, His Grace is FAR MORE abundant than the sinful nature of man!
His love and grace is greater than anything and abounds everywhere it is needed. Don’t think that someone is so far gone or so deep in sin that God’s grace cannot save them. In order to show them God’s grace, perhaps they need to see a little grace from us as well.
PRAYER: “Dear Lord, THANK YOU for Your grace and for forgiving me when I was totally unforgivable. Help me to see the heart of man like You see it. Forgive me for not extending grace to people who so desperately need it. I’m asking You now for Your help with those I rub shoulders with, to not accept their sin but to accept them and shw a little grace in hopes it will lead them to your ultimate, forgiving grace. AMEN
Amen to that, Laurie. Yes, we all have sinned and are have fallen short. We need to remember that. I try to extant His grace, even to the people who are rude and not very lovable. But then again, they may have something on their heart that I don’t see. May I have the eyes of Jesus.
Bless you.