Grace Begins

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Welcome to week 1 of Grace Is For Giving: a 5 weeks series with blogger linkups.

Did you ever ponder where grace began?

That grace of God we wholeheartedly sing about, amazing and sweet. That grace John Newton carefully penned will one day lead us home to Heaven. The grace God offers to every man, woman, boy and girl on this planet.

Where did it begin? When did it begin?

While God’s grace was lavished on several Old Testament figures, Noah, Moses, and Joseph to name a few, the grace of God was truly made evident to the world at this point:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son…

John 3:16

Do you see that? This was the beginning of our gift of grace- God gave.

For grace to make her entrance, she has to be willingly offered and mercifully issued, ushered in by a spirit that says:

“I understand what you deserve and because I love you, I’m giving to you. Regardless of  your issues, this, my grace, is your gift if you choose it.”

But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. Rom. 5:15

Speaking about the grace of God is glorious.  Extending God’s gracious gift of salvation is beautiful.  But as Christians, I’m afraid the grace we offer frequently stops there.  We draw the line at offering grace to one who has personally offended us.  We fail to extend grace because our feelings have been hurt.  Withholding grace seems justifiable.  And we completely miss the point of grace by doing so.   I’ve withheld grace, clutching it to myself with clenched fists as the gold-hoarding Scrooge.  Failing to extend grace does result in growth- the growth of bitterness. And you may be thinking:

Why give grace?

I give grace because I so desperately need it.- Lysa Kerkeurst, Unglued

Recognizing our own shortcomings and failures and realizing the grace gift we’ve so wonderfully been given, we can extend the gift of grace to others through God’s strength.   But we must be willing to do so.

Grace is not only a gift from God; grace is a gift to extend to others.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to receive gifts- I mean, the really good, I-wish-I-had-one kind of gifts.

But giving great gifts takes a bit of work, don’t you think?  You have to think it through. Plan. Make choices. Be purposeful. Shop. Wrap. Give.

As the holiday season approaches, I’m purposefully choosing to give away my best gift- grace. 

Will you join me?