Extending Grace

As a very justice-oriented person, I often struggle with the concept of extending grace.

When something happens to me that I consider unjust, I get angry.

When I am wrongly accused
When I am not rightly acknowledged
When another driver believes he is entitled to cut in front of me
When someone at the end of the line gets chosen before me

Why does it bother me so? It feels like someone is taking something that is rightfully mine.

In one of my favorite books, The Shack, William Paul Young says,

“Rights are where survivors go, so that they won’t have to work out relationships.”

and

“Jesus didn’t hold on to any rights; he willingly became a servant . . . He gave up everything, so that by his dependent life he opened a door that would allow you to live free enough to give up your rights.”

Through the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross, I am forgiven for so much. God’s grace covers every last bit of my ugly sin. Not just once but over and over again. He extends infinite grace to me, yet I go about daily life clinging to my rights and demanding justice.

God is teaching me to live freely through him. I am slowly learning to let go of my rights. As life occurs, he whispers “show grace”. Show grace to your friends, show grace to your neighbors, show grace to your co-workers, show grace to complete strangers, show grace to yourself.

He is changing me. And I want to share my stories with you.

The fine print: Since there is a lot more that I want to share about this topic, I am making my first attempt at writing a blog series. I will be writing about how God is teaching me to extend grace in various areas of my life. I can’t promise a post per day, but there will be at least 3 future posts on this topic in the next couple of weeks. Check back on Friday for Part 1. If you want to subscribe via email or RSS feed so that you won’t miss a post, there are now buttons on the right sidebar. Thanks for joining in the fun!