I’ve come to understand that Justice is getting what one deserves, mercy is not getting what one deserves and that grace is getting something that we definitely do not deserve. It is unmerited favor, something that only God can do. The closest we can come is probably being a parent; we do things for this little person that they do not deserve, but we do them for no other reason than because we love them. If we desire to become more like Christ (Romans 8:29), we must learn to grow in forgiveness and grace.
Quotes:
Forgiveness is the final form of love. — Reinhold Niebuhr
The world can do almost anything as well as or better than the church. You need not be a Christian to build houses, feed the hungry, or heal the sick. There is only one thing the world cannot do. It cannot offer grace. — George McDonald
I rejected the church for a time because I found so little grace there. I returned because I found grace nowhere else. — Philip Yancey
We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sincere forgiveness isn’t colored with expectations that the other person apologize or change. Don’t worry whether or not they finally understand you. Love them and release them. Life feeds back truth to people in its own way. — Sara Paddison
Top 10 Ways to Grow in Grace:
- Be quick to acknowledge sin and guilt.
- Live in the confidence of your divine ownership.
- Easily receive God’s forgiveness that invites you into intimacy.
- Stop trying to earn God’s favor when you already have it.
- Reject false guilt; the enemy’s favorite lie.
- Take every opportunity to overlook the failures of others.
- Call attention to people’s potential, not their faults.
- Speak the truth in gentleness and love.
- Don’t pretend to have your life all neatly together.
- Be quick to forgive and slow to offend.