The Grace of God. It changes our eternity from misery to glory. We’re transformed from guilty to forgiven, from condemned to set free, from fearful to hopeful. But does grace really work in every part of life? Some would say no, that its place is in the spiritual, eternal, religious part of our existence.
I disagree. While grace’s greatest impact is that it reconciles us to God and accesses spiritual and eternal blessings for us, there is no boundary that grace cannot cross. Grace works in every setting, every relationship, every crisis.
I’m a husband, father, grandfather and healthcare administrator, and I can say from experience that grace is the best approach in all those areas of my life.
From the time grace was introduced by Jesus and His apostles, the assumption of some has been that it doesn’t change behavior, but reinforces bad behavior, since forgiveness can be expected. Thus Paul’s: Shall we go on sinning that grace may abound? God forbid! While there’s certainly the option of continuing with bad behavior, God has taken the approach of motivating for good behavior through heart-change (being grateful for forgiveness motivates us for good behavior). And we should do the same: give grace and trust God’s grace in people to bring about goodness.
The best description of grace we find is in the love chapter, 1st Corinthians 13. Agape love (the love God has for us) is the same as grace. In that description, the word always is used several times. Always trusts…always hopes…always perseveres… That means agape is unconditional; regardless of the response, or lack thereof, of the recipient, the agape-love giver gives agape-love. They give grace.
In the aforementioned roles I fill in my life, I find that people respond to grace in surprisingly positive ways.
Two common misconceptions about grace, though, are that it’s the opposite of discipline, and that there can be no consequences in grace.
Paul’s letter to the Galatians dispels the first of those erroneous ideas: Do not be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever you sow, that you shall also reap. And that verse is contained in the letter clarifying the preeminence of grace over the law.
And Hebrews addresses the second issue: The Lord disciplines those He loves. And He punishes each one He accepts as a child.
Important truths to understand are: 1) God oversees the reaping of seed sown, which He does within His system of grace, and He can be trusted to show us kindness in the process and to ultimately work it all for our good; and 2) God’s discipline is also carried out in the context of grace, which means He reminds us, by His Spirit within us, that our consequences are part of His loving plan of grace.
The application of all this is this. Do these things as you employ God’s grace in the various setting in you life (marriage, parenting, etc.):
- Trust grace and those to whom you give it that they’ll ultimately be grateful for it and it will ultimately motivate them for good.
- If you use discipline or consequences in response to people’s actions, be sure to communicate very gently that you’re doing it as a part of the loving grace which you’ve received from God and now relay to others.
Do these things and you’ll find that, yes, grace really does work.
