Mercy: not getting what you deserve.
Grace: getting more than you deserve.
In light of our brokenness, fragility, and need, how can we wrestle through the understanding of grace? Furthermore, when we cry out for justice and retribution for our enemies, do we desire the same thing for us? Your insights on this matter are highly valuable.
i think i struggle with this one…i mean i get it with my mind….my heart has a hard time…i always think i'm doing something wrong or lacking in some area…Thank God for His grace…
I think the justice part depends on what kind of justice we want to see.
I do often struggle with this. GRACE- God's Riches At Christ Expense! I thank the Lord for His grace- I screw up every single moment of my life……I am a mother ( of two little ones 3 1/2 and 2) a wife and a caregiver of a little guy, 1 year old! My patience run thin, especially with my own children and even my husband. I do often think in my mind too, Lord get my enemies…….then am humbled by His still small voice telling me to check my own heart………yet, He Still shows me GRACE! What a Savior!!! Thanks for the reminder Bianca! Blessings to you!!
P.S. As I was just finishing reading your blog, looked down and my Bible was opened to this verse : Luke 17: 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying "I repent" you shall forgive him.
Reminded me of GRACE….no matter if they deserve it or not- FORGIVE them!!
speaking of forgiveness…can i ask u and your readers to give some input on a certain situation….my husband is mad at my best friend for saying something bad about him (not to his face, behind his back). At the time, my husband had wronged me (we have a very stormy past) That's when she said it. He found out, and now (5 yrs later), he is still bothered by the fact that I want to be her friend. He said his feeling gets hurt because i didn't stand up and get mad at her for talking smack….she has always respected my marriage and what it entailed…she has since turned her life around and is serving the Lord….he says he has forgiven her…but it's still an issue when i see her or talk to her….he says just because he forgives her, it doesn't mean he has to hang out with her….but it still bothers him when i do….it does cause some conflict in our marriage….
any insight, scripture references…anything would help:)
Pray for him. Hard. This problem has to do more about his own heart than with you wanting to hang out with your friend. You are not the Holy Spirit to show him his sin, but you are his wife that is suppose to support him to be the man HE wants him to be. Most men can't be pushed to do the right thing by their wives, they can be encouraged and cheered but not pushed. So pray, pray, pray. God will deal with his heart, trust that his relationship with the Lord will touch him at some point. I'm assuming he is a christian.
I also agree with Bianca, talk to him and express how you feel, with respect and always understanding his position. (but it seems to me you have already?) She should apologize to him, sincerely and with love. Although he should not need her apology to forgive her…
it may be a little radical, but I think that if this relationship with your friend is causing problems in your marriage, you should honor your husband and distance yourself from her. He will see that there is nothing more important for you than him and honoring him. I know it's terrible, specially since it is your husbands lack of forgiveness that would cause you to loose a friend. But the Lord has set his rules on marriage and they don't apply to women that are married only with godly men:
"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands."
Ephesians 5:22
"Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct." 1 Peter 3:1
"Older women … are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled."
—Titus 2:3-5
We are experiencing Grace. Have you seen what Carlos Whittaker CD is doing on iTunes? I was hopping to meet you at Catalyst but I was only there for a couple of hours. Love you and your sister through your blogs. May God continue to pour Grace over you.
Oh this is sooo hard! Like when I speed down a freeway and hope not to get caught, but wonder where the cop is when someone cuts me off!
LOVE this! I never thought about it in those terms, but you've perfectly defined each of these words! I'm committing this to memory! Thank you!
What great insight and a word from Luke this morning, Andrea! Thanks for sharing 🙂
The male ego is very fragile. Since he felt wronged by her and betrayed by you, it's going to take some time to heal. I would suggest speaking casually to your husband and explain how you feel, affirming him of your love for him and the time that her comment was said.
Perhaps he would feel better if she made a point to address it. It could be the elephant in the room no one wants to talk about 🙁
I know!!! Wow, what a blessing Carmen 🙂 I would've loved to meet you at Catalyst… hopefully at some point in the near future!!!
Truth! I feel the same way. I only want justice to work if it's in my favor.
Well, I GUESS I have to be honest with you. I didn't make those up… a pastor did 😉 But I'm glad to pass them along!
Apparently I only like justice when it's in my favor. This is why grace is needed in my life.
Thanks for the blog lovin'!
As I mentioned to Diandra, I only want justice when it's in my favor, but I never want justice when it's against me. This is why I really need to inact grace in my life towards others.
I recently had someone I have known for long do something that was pretty shady and YUP my first thoughts were…."Get em Lord!!! Get em!! Let all their plans fail!" I felt awful for even having those thoughts – real awful. Through prayer the Lord softened my heart to the whole situation. I saw how many times I had basically been shady to the Lord yet He has always been patient and longsuffering with me – always forgiving and showing me much mercy no matter what. I really had no other choice but to realize that I had to do the same, show as much grace as I could and if I lacked I would pray until my heart was as soft as baby skin! I have to check my heart daily.
grace is getting to eat dessert even though you didn't finish your vegetables.
don't know where i picked that up, but it stuck. that, or i'm just obsessed with food. whichever.
OH I'm going to STEAL that! Love it 🙂
man…I knew I should have took better notes sunday! 😉
I'll let you borrow mine 😉 Pastor Miles won't mind.
Don't hate,
B
i've also heard it as grace = getting what you don't deserve.
when i discipline my 4 year old, i love illustrating the concepts of grace and mercy. and often justice. but i love teaching him about God's grace and how it's infinitely more than mama's. (and yes, my 4 year old understands infinity, but that's another story, haha!)
blessings!
If your 4 year old knows infinity, I really need to have you teach my future child 😉
Oh goodness this is a hard question…I have so much love for my savior for His grace that He freely gives to me…I'll need to think about it before I can speak about it (I mean type) LOL
BTW, I highly recommend this book: http://nogreaterjoy.org/blogs/createdtobehishelpm…
I hated it, but it changed my life and show me the truth in the scripture. Our society has really messed up our roles as wives and this book brings back our true purpose. I don't agree with some theology her husband teaches, but this book is truly amazing.
I have struggled with Grace for a while. And thinking and praying about it I came to understand that we don't understand grace because we don't understand sin. I mean, we constantly have this "rating system" on sins: murder surly is not the same as a lie, fornicating is not the same as been proud in our hearts.
So when we are having a good time and not sinning "too much" just a little sin here and there, we feel that OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS GREAT! Oh.. but when we commit "big" sins (according to our rating system) , we feel like our relationship with him is not ok. Somehow that relationship got tainted and somehow this deadly sin has put us AWAY from him. I believe this is not true. For God, all sins are the same, they may have different consequences and also reflect how much we are seeking God, but ALL SINS ARE THE SAME LEGALLY to God. So for Jesus, what is the difference? It doesn't matter what we have done he is our Lawyer before the Father. He will be our shield before judgment no matter how big the consequences of our sins are.
So it all comes down to our own Pride. What AM I DOING to be OK WITH GOD? What AM I DOING that is blocking God's forgiveness… Grace STOPS BEEN GRACE when God is obligated to dispense it because a person DESERVES it. Forget what YOU ARE DOING. And when you are tempted to linger on your own actions, remember that there is no rating system for Jesus, and he always will stand in front of us to protect us from our punishment and through him receive grace.
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