Grace Revelation

Some background on myself: I have been a Christian for quite some time and know just about how every question should be answered. This is great in Sunday School, but when it comes to truly knowing what God wants & needs for us to do to fulfill our duties to glorify him...its not so great. I have discussed this with a good friend and mentor of mine, Grinder, about the need in my life to convert all the matters of my mind & knowledge to be understood by my heart. You see, the relationship I hold with Greg is one of friendship & mentor-ship. Our lives have corresponded in some pretty unique ways. The beauty to this, is that we think similarly but Greg has had time in his life to transfer a large portion of his head knowledge, into his heart. All of this to say, on this past Sunday a part of my head knowledge transfer to my heart...

There was a young man who I knew had an unsavory past. This young man, who we will refer to as Spaceman Spiff,

was involved in some explorations he should not have gotten into. This was reported to the proper parties & dealt with accordingly several years ago, but he will be constantly reminded of his actions.

As I sat there in church, I listen to him give his testimony, leaving out the graphic details, to the entire church body. Very few in the congregation knew about his past actions, as I did, but I sat there thinking about how many times I have judged so harshly against people & their actions. How hypocritical of me. It nearly broke my heart as Spiff was speaking.

At that moment I then realized what true grace & forgiveness was. The matter of knowing what grace & forgiveness was and that it should be given freely, just as I had received it. I began to empathize with  Spaceman Spiff in his new found grace. I do not feel as though grace is mine to give in this situation because it is Gods, but it made me realize that within my own life I need to show grace, forgiveness & compassion to those whom have wronged me & no longer hold it against them.

1 Peter 4:10 tells us that, "Each of you should use whatever gift [grace] you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. How many times do we forget this in our daily lives? Just like money, we are to be stewards of grace, giving it to whomever is in need for the glory of God. It is not something we are given & to be used selfishly? Its to show others where we have been & what we have been given through God's forgiveness. Personally, I wonder how are we to do this? My day is busy and I don't think to show grace. The Bible goes on to tell us that, "grace and peace is multiplied through our knowledge of Christ our Lord," 2 Peter 1:2. If we find ourself in this situation or saying anything remotely close to that, then the scripture is clear that we are not spending enough time in the word. How else do we learn about God? How else are we to live a life that shows God's love, forgiveness, mercy & grace?

I think that if I did that more often, then these would no longer be matters of the head, but become more of the heart...