There was once a young boy who continually got in trouble at school.
The boy was once again brought into the principal's office.
"What is it this time?" the principal asked the teacher who brought the boy in.
"He got into another fight on the playground," the teacher responded.
The principal turned to the young boy and asked, "Was there a reason for this fight?"
"No," the boy retorted defiantly. "I just felt like it. The kid was looking at me wrong."
"And you know you'll get in trouble for getting into fights, right?" the principal asked
"Yeah," replied the boy, "and I don't care! Give me your worst; I can take it."
The principal looked into the boy's eyes and said, "Today you will learn the meaning of grace."
The boy responded, "Isn't that what you old people say before dinner?"
The principal answered, "No, grace is a gift. It is being given something you cannot earn.
Grace means you will not be getting what you deserve today."
The boy looked surprised. "You mean, you're going to let me walk? No punishment?"
"No, there is punishment," the principal corrected. "What you did was wrong.
There are always consequences for our actions.
Grace is never an excuse for doing something wrong."
"I knew it!" spat the boy. "Well, let's get on with it if you're not going to let me off."
The principal nodded to the teacher, who had a ruler ready to dole out punishment.
The principal stood up and looked at the boy, saying, "I want you to count."
The principal then offered up his own hands to the teacher to receive the punishment.
There was a shock in the boy's eyes as the ruler cracked down on the principal's knuckles.
"...One," the boy said softly.
The ruler cracked down once again on the principal's knuckles.
With a tear forming in his eye, the boy counted, "Two."
As they continued, the boy cried out, "Please, stop! I did it, okay? I deserve it!"
But the principal continued to take the hits that were meant for the boy.
When it was finished, the principal placed a reddened hand gently on the now crying boy's shoulder:
"That ... is grace."
-From Gods411-
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"But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift" - Ephesians 4:7
