Amazing Grace

Grace....It's such a beautiful word.  I've always liked it.  In fact I like it so much it is THE GIRL'S middle name.   However the Lord has really been working on me in this area of my life over the last 2 and half years.  I don't think you really "get" grace until you've gotten grace.

So what is grace?  It is God's unmerited favor.  It is a kindness from God that we don't deserve.  It is unearned.  There is nothing we can do to get it.  It is a gift. 

I didn't "get" grace until I realized how much grace I had been given.  It took me seeing my sinfulness and shame and brokenness and unrighteousness AND realizing I could literally do nothing about it.  I could not undo the mess I had made of my life.  I could not repay the debt I owed.  I couldn't earn back the favor of those I had sinned against.  It took me being broken and at the end of myself and my ability and my resources.....to see God's beautiful Grace and understand for the first time what Grace was all about.  It was NOT one iota about me BUT 100 % about Him....the giver.  I didn't (and don't) deserve grace.  I can't (and haven't) earned grace.  All I can do it receive it and work to extend it to others.  It is so humbling to receive grace when you truly don't deserve it. 

One of the most Grace Giving and Accepting people I know is my Dad.  I think he would be the first to tell you that he has received Grace and really "gotten' it and so he has become an amazing giver of Grace.  I am MUCH more gracious then I used to be but I am not even close to where I want to be.  I can give grace to the people who have sinned in ways I deem understandable or if they are sorry for what they have done or if they were really young or if they weren't a Christian yet....and so on and so on and so on.

BUT Then I have my list of people who don't deserve grace:
Legalistic People
People who hurt children
People who aren't sorry for what they've done.
Christians who mess up.
People who are Judgemental.....and believe me my list could go on....

I guess I'm blogging all this because I've been disappointed.  Someone I love very much (NOT RANDY) didn't live up to my expectations.  They deeply hurt and disappointed me and I'm faced with the sinfulness of someone I care deeply about.  I just keep being reminded that People need a second chance (unless your me and you might need 742 second chances).  I've been given many chances.  I'm free because Christ paid much to high a price.  Was it enough for me but not for others?  Is my sinfulness less shameful then theirs?  I would have to say NO!  Sin is sin and I do not get to set the standards for acceptable sin and unacceptable.  I can shun people or I can love people.  I can withhold Grace and be legalistic and RIGHT or I can Love people and shower them with Grace.

Why do I long to be RIGHT?  Because I'm a SINNER! UGH!!!!

So...What if I extend Grace and people take advantage of me and abuse the gift of Grace?  I read somewhere (I'm really bad at remembering where I get these things....but I just want you to know I didn't come up with this) that if it can't be abused then it's not really GRACE.  Grace doesn't have strings.  We don't get it because we are sorry.  We don't get it because our sins fall below some magic mark in the sky.  Grace is Grace.....It's beautiful to receive and so hard to give.
However.....I'm slowly learning that brokenness in myself and others is really beautiful.  God really does use our brokenness to display his beauty.  He really does use the ashes of our lives to create beauty.  He the GIVER of GRACE was perfect.  So why can't I the recipient of AMAZING grace lavish it on those in my realm instead of hoarding it and trying to punish people for being sinful humans who just need a little Grace- JUST LIKE ME.
If you have a moment  and are interested in the topic of grace I highly recommend checking out The People of a Second Chance Blog.  You can find it if you google people of a second chance.  It is so good and so relevant and challenging. So if you want to pray for me one thing you could pray is that I give grace.  I want people to see something different in my life and I want it to be the beauty that comes from a broken life that has been redeemed by the AMAZING SWEET GRACE of JESUS CHRIST.