Unfiltered Insanity

This is the first installment of at least two installments on Grace.

Grace is something that I have been learning about recently. No, not “grace” like ballerinas and being smooth and elegant (Weirdos! I can’t believe you thought I was talking about ballerinas. Sheesh!), the grace of God.

***Before I get into this further, let me just say that this is not a Hellfire and Damnation lecture. It’s not even intended for my non-Christian followers. (Although, if you decide to read it, I hope that you find it to be very encouraging and very uplifting because God’s grace is for everyone.) Quite the contrary, it is another one of these things that have been floating through my head and through several recent experiences, I thought that it might be time to talk about this. Okay? Okay.***

I had the recent privilege of going through the Grace Walk Experience (GWE) at my church. Steve McVey is the author of “Grace Walk” and the “Grace Walk Experience.” It was an eye-opening experience and if anyone ever gets the opportunity to go through this workbook, you should! There are revelations in here that would make every Christian look twice at the way that they think of themselves and their faith.

But the GWE is not why I’m talking to you today about grace. The reason is because I think a lot of us forget in our day-to-day how to live in grace.

Here are some definitions of the word “grace”: Approval, Favor, Mercy, Pardon, Privilege.

Wow! To think that is what it means that God gives us grace?! He approves of us. He favors us. He gives us mercy. He pardons us. It is our privilege for Him to give us this grace. SERIOUSLY!? If God can look at us in this manner when we sin against Him daily, how is it that we cannot come up with the ability to do this for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ?

Does God call you up in the middle of the day and tell you what a sucky job you’re doing of being a parent/spouse/child/sibling/friend/employer/employee/person-in-general? No! (If He does, will you tell Him to give me a call, because I’d totally love to have a conversation with Him on the telephone.) The opposite is true! He DELIGHTS in us! He is overjoyed with us. He LIKES us (not just loves us)!

The Bible is full of this promise. Just a few examples:

Psalm 18:19: He led me to a place of safety; He rescued me because He delights in me.

Psalm 37:23: The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.

From God’s romantic love letter to us:
Song of Solomon 4:10: Your love delights me, my treasure, my bride. Your love is better than wine, your perfume more fragrant than spices.

We are His chosen people. He chose us! So why are we treating each other like we are anything but belonging to God? Why do we feel the need to criticize the choices people make? Deeming it moral or immoral based on the convictions of our politics or other personal beliefs (other than Scriptural “sin”)?

Let us not forget what Christ says in Luke.

Luke 6:37 Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.

In Matthew, the verse is said like this:
Matthew 7:1-2 Do not judge others and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

I know that what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 is coming to your mind. I ask you though, are you actually taking the time to discover the believer’s heart before judging or are you quick to judge based on the surface? Think about this. I know I haven’t always taken the time to get to know people before coming to an opinion on someone. That is our flesh. Christ, who lives in us, desires us to know our brothers and sisters before judging. We are called to discern whether it’s truly a sin or if it’s judgement based on your ideological position of what you think is wrong. Remember, just because others agree with you, doesn’t make you right.

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This entry was posted by Lisa on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 2:21 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.