What is grace?
By definition 'grace' is simple elegance or refinement of movement, ie. elegance and finesse. In Christian belief, 'grace' is the free and unmerited favor of God or God's love towards men who deserve the opposite. It's forgiving AND forgetting.
I'm really interested in the act of showing grace and what that looks like, mainly because I've been in several situations lately where I've needed it or have needed to show others how to give it.
How do we show grace?
Grace, to me, is an exalted level or epitome of kindness. It's not just helping an older person or giving a child something they need or treating your neighbor with respect. It's more than that. It's love in action. It's saying you accept someone despite the struggles you may have with them. It's forgiveness of self and others.
When should we show and ask for grace?
Grace is good. All the time. We should be throwing grace around like confetti. The most perfect of all is the One who gives grace the most freely. Without His grace we would be in much worse shape. You can never ask for too much and you can never show it too much.
Showing grace gives us the ability to move on from those things that hold us back. Now, if you think about it, humbly asking for grace and openly giving grace is the perfect combination for - conflict resolution internally and externally as well as, learning how to live in community with one another, to trust our leaders, to love our significant others, and to raise our children to the best of our abilities.
Some things to keep in mind in 2017:
Show yourself grace when you try and fail. Show your partner grace when they've wronged you but you know divorce is also not the answer. Ask for grace when you know you should parent better but lose your cool one too many times. Show grace when confronting and trying to remedy a situation. Show grace when you know someone needs to be cut some slack. Remind yourself that grace is necessary for refinement.
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