Blessed Are the Messy

day twenty-four

I found a note on my phone that just says, "How can I expect others to give me grace when I don't give them grace?"

It's mind-boggling to think about how freely God gives grace, but usually we just don't think about it. When it comes time for us to do the same thing, the story changes. Yeah, sure, grace is good, but this person wronged me. They don't deserve grace from me. They wouldn't give grace to me, so why should I give it to them?

What if God used that system? If the first time we slipped up He turned on us and refused to forgive? By this logic, He definitely could- we wrong Him a lot, and we sure don't deserve grace. If He were conformed to the pattern of this world, we'd be in a whole lot of trouble.  

But He isn't, and we're not supposed to be either. Becoming transformed sounds great at first, but then it gets hard and we start turning back. There is nothing easy about forgiving someone who has hurt us, especially in our culture today. It's not cool, it's not glamorous- but it's Godly. 

If we're supposed to be like God, that doesn't just include what we do, but also how we react to what others do. Being like God includes forgiving like God too. Grace is radical, it's unusual, it's reckless. It doesn't mean not holding one another accountable or allowing people to hurt you- it means loving each other as God loves us. Claim that love and grace today, and let God spread it all over through you.