Extending Grace:
Extending Grace: given and received by Bill Benson
I’ve been thinking a lot about grace lately. Perhaps it is because we are going through the book of Galatians or perhaps its because grace is always on my mind. I really appreciate the fact that as a church we have a foundation based upon grace. I’ve tried the works model in the past and have always failed.
Several years ago we went on a journey trying to find a church where we needed to be. We began that journey when our kids did not connect in the social structure of middle school and high school. They refused to go to the church we were at; it was time to go shopping.
We ended up for about a year at a church where what you did was very important. The rules you followed were paramount and there were people watching you ready and willing to gossip about your behavior. It’s the place where rules mattered, all sorts of rules behavior rules, conformity rules, dress, and status
I have thought often about how they treated each other holding each other up to what seems to be an impossible set of standards. They had no grace with each other, no allowance for each others shortcomings. It brings to mind the verse:
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”. (Ephesians 4: 1-3 NIV) And in another version “Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” (Ephesians 4:2b NLT)
They did not look at each other through Christ’s eyes they looked at each other conforming to the rules. They did not understand where each other was at on the journey with Christ. They only looked at the rules and how they conformed to the rules. , “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” (Proverbs 19:11 NIV) When we understand others we become patient. “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but one who has a hasty temper exalts folly. (Proverbs 14:29 NRSV)
It is good to be patient with each other. God created each of us differently. We each have a different role in life, different upbringings and we each are at a different place in our journey with Christ. When we are patient with each other we can see each other through Christ’s eyes and isn’t that what grace is all about.
I’ve been thinking a lot about grace lately. Perhaps it is because we are going through the book of Galatians or perhaps its because grace is always on my mind. I really appreciate the fact that as a church we have a foundation based upon grace. I’ve tried the works model in the past and have always failed.
Several years ago we went on a journey trying to find a church where we needed to be. We began that journey when our kids did not connect in the social structure of middle school and high school. They refused to go to the church we were at; it was time to go shopping.
We ended up for about a year at a church where what you did was very important. The rules you followed were paramount and there were people watching you ready and willing to gossip about your behavior. It’s the place where rules mattered, all sorts of rules behavior rules, conformity rules, dress, and status
I have thought often about how they treated each other holding each other up to what seems to be an impossible set of standards. They had no grace with each other, no allowance for each others shortcomings. It brings to mind the verse:
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”. (Ephesians 4: 1-3 NIV) And in another version “Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” (Ephesians 4:2b NLT)
They did not look at each other through Christ’s eyes they looked at each other conforming to the rules. They did not understand where each other was at on the journey with Christ. They only looked at the rules and how they conformed to the rules. , “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” (Proverbs 19:11 NIV) When we understand others we become patient. “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but one who has a hasty temper exalts folly. (Proverbs 14:29 NRSV)
It is good to be patient with each other. God created each of us differently. We each have a different role in life, different upbringings and we each are at a different place in our journey with Christ. When we are patient with each other we can see each other through Christ’s eyes and isn’t that what grace is all about.
posted by William Benson at
7:16 PM
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