Grace.
The whole of christianity could be wrapped up in that one word, that one little word, that speaks so much to God. About who He is and about how we were made to be and how our relationship with Him was meant to be.
We are reunited in Him by grace, through faith alone, in the gift of His son Jesus. Through the sacrifice on the cross, the death and the resurrection. The promise of salvation given.
Grace.
A gift that is offered without fail. One we can choose to accept, whether with gratitude or grudgingly. It is offered freely still. Because of the love of the Father for his children.
A gift, as christians, that we so often take for granted, one that we love to talk about and sing its praises. It's like a warm fuzzy for the soul. It's the feel good part of Christianity. Something everyone wants.
Grace.
Were it not for grace we would die in our sin and suffer the fate of our actions. And there's the rub, the flip side of the coin, the reason we need grace, the reason we long for it, the reason our souls ache. The fall of mankind.
Sin.
The reason we fall to our knees. The reason we seek forgiveness. At least we are supposed too. What's forgiveness for without repentance? To turn away from our sin. But really, why do we only give lip service to the idea, when our actions tell a different story?
Even in grace God calls for our obedience, while he does not condemn us like the woman at the well He tells us "go and sin no more".
Like children we rebel at being told we ought not do a thing, even when it is for our benefit to obey. To protect us from harm, to keep us safe, to make us free.
Sin.
We like to forget about that part, we make excuses for our less than stellar behavior.
"Everybody else is doing it.", "A little can't hurt.", "Where's the harm in it?", "I just want to have a little fun." "I can't help it." Whatever "it" may be. Justifying "it" any way we can. We do it to make us feel better about ourselves. Deception.
"A little white lie never hurts anybody." After all,
"God made me this way."
Isn't that making God, who knows no sin, responsible for it? We are wretched creatures. We have taken this beautiful creation and condemned it to hell.
Sin.
We say things like,
"What does it matter?" "I'm not hurting any one." We are forgetting about ourselves. We are hurting ourselves. Our souls ache.
But do we repent? Not hardly, it seems we would rather seek solace in a bottle, or a needle, or someone else's bed.
"If it feels good, do it." the world tells us. We try to find some other way to soothe the ache in our souls.
But there is only one way. And we know it and we know what that is and we know how to get it.
Repent.
Admitting our need for repentance and forgiveness means admitting that we are less than we think we ought to be. Admitting that we are wrong. Admitting we need a savior.
Why are we so reluctant? Why do we enslave our souls to resentment and bitterness?
Freedom is at our fingertips, we need only ask in faith believing. Freedom from our sin. Freedom to forgive and be forgiven. Freedom to live a grace filled life. Faithful.
Faith.
To ask is to humble ourselves. To ask is a choice we make to choose freedom over enslavement. To turn from our ways.
It is to free ourselves, to let go of the past hurts and resentments, regardless of the actions of others.
We ask for Gods unmerited favor.
Grace.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God."
Ephesians 2:8
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Graceful.
