Last week our family had the privilege to travel to Greece to a conference. It felt good not to cancel this trip. We drove over 700 miles (around 1200 km) to get from Bucharest to Athens.
As you can imagine, sticking two energetic kids on a long car ride gave great learning opportunities to two bickering sisters.
My husband did a great job teaching the girls one main lesson- GIVE GRACE. He taught it a lot of the times by example, by giving grace when they expected a consequence.
You only see fully the value of grace, when you know you deserve a consequence to your wrong actions. In the Old Testament, you sinned, you had to make it right with God by bringing an offering according to the Levitical laws. A quick ‘I’m sorry!’ wouldn’t do it. Or, you had a pretty severe punishment. The law showed us we are sinful, and that on our own we deserve death, separation from God.
Christ dying for our sins, is all about GRACE. We have been forgiven much. We should forgive much. We don’t have to sacrifice a lamb anymore, but we need to accept forgiveness and then to grant it. In the parable of the unmerciful servant, Matthew 18:21-35 shows us what to expect if we don’t forgive as God forgave us.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. ‘This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’ “
The Holy Spirit living in us is God’s GRACE to us. Christ didn’t let us struggle on our own. He sent help. We should embrace receiving grace. We should rejoice in giving grace.
The secret is to stay in tune with the Spirit, not to ignore that still small voice that pricks on your guilty conscience. Get your mind pickled. Marinate it in God’s powerful word.
Too often, I do parenting Old Testament style. The girls stamp their feet or talk back, they are two lambs and a dove away before reconciliation happens with mommy.
I love rules. I love abiding by them. But, I need to steer away from that legalistic frame of mind. Isn’t that what Jesus got after the pharisees for? God looks at the heart.
My husband tried to teach the girls this lesson on grace, but it reminded me that I need to give more grace to my kids, to those around me, and at times even to myself.
It’s sad to say that I can’t even keep up with my own standard. I’m tough on myself, just as much as on others. But, Christ’s standard is much higher than even mine. God expects for me to be daily growing, not daily beating myself up that I am not perfect.
A few months ago I was coming out of the garage of the building we live in. In Romania, anything related to cars, traffic, garages, and parking is a tense topic. The narrow driveway coming out is on an incline. You have to push the gas hard enough so you don’t drive backwards into the garage door. But, at the top, you’d better be careful not to step on someone’s toes, as pedestrians randomly pass by without expecting a car to pop out. At the same time, you can’t go too far before you need to carefully close the garage door behind you with a remote.
I do this routine a few times a day, everyday. One afternoon, I was with the girls in the car. I came out of the garage door. My remote had low batteries and it worked when it pleased. But, at that moment it worked. As I push the gas to get to the top, a bunch of pedestrians pop in front of the car. For fear not to acquaint them with our vehicle, I stopped pressing the gas and the car rolled down the slope into the closed garage door, the remote stopped cooperating as if it panicked just as I did.
I quickly called my husband and the building administration to share with them to good news that we need to change the garage door, expecting a little bit of rebuke from everyone. Instead they said, ‘As long as you are safe, it’s okay. It happens.”
I expected judgment (just like the law offers), instead I received GRACE. It felt good. A heavy burden was lifted off my shoulders. It reminded me that I enjoy receiving grace, so I need to grant it in return to those around me.
Things I need to work on:
- How do I treat others, with grace or implementing the law?
- Do I enjoy receiving grace? Do I enjoy giving it?
- Do I fathom how much grace God bestows upon me daily?