Grace is what makes us tender toward the things of the Lord. Jesus taught us to pray "forgive me" because He knew the devastating effects sin has on our lives. The callouses it causes to form over our hearts are thick. The longer we put off this prayer, the harder it becomes for us to recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives; the deafer we become to His voice. But as we respond to the Lord, He cuts those callouses away and exposes tender skin; skin that can feel. We need this so badly! I can go through a thousand conversations with the Lord and not feel Him; not experience Him. I can pray boldly, humbly, honestly and constantly and not hear from Him. But as soon as I open my heart to grace, suddenly I can hear and feel again. Oh, what emotions we miss by ignoring grace!
When we say grace sets us free, we mean in every area. It's not just that it takes the load off our backs or opens the prison door sin has locked us behind. Grace frees us to grieve. When we accept the grace freely given us by God, we suddenly can feel the loss around us. Grace frees us to have compassion. It removes our jagged edges and allows us to see the hurting, lost people around us. Instead of rushing by them or just plain ignoring them, grace gives us Jesus' compassion to see and care for them with His hands and His words.
Grace makes us generous. Those who are resistant to grace find themselves living according to the Law when it comes to giving. We say to God, "I give my 10% and I'm done. Don't ask me to shell out another penny." But people who accept God's free gift of grace suddenly find themselves willing to give and give and give. They share their money, but that's not all. They give of their time and their home and their belongings. They share their skills freely. Grace-shaped people are generous.
Grace gives us the ability to create new, good memories. When we ignore grace, we imprison ourselves in the shame and regret of the past. Even though we're promised Heaven, we feel as though we can't get past the ugliness of our choices and the choices made around us that affected us. We live and wallow and bury ourselves in that regret and bitterness and pain. But grace pulls us out of that hole, that darkness and pain. It writes a new story for us, one that is not shaped by pain. Suddenly, when we embrace grace, we can look back at those old memories and see the presence of Jesus that we'd previously ignored before. Even though the pain is there, we recognize that there is good there also. We see how he knit all those ugly things together and used them to point us to Himself.
A grace-shaped life will always be more aware of the sin it welcomes. Tenderness toward Jesus automatically means an openness to the Holy Spirit. He gives us such awareness when it comes to the choices we are presented with and the desires that drive them. But He also makes us aware of sin we had no idea was present. This is often the sin that causes the callousness in our lives. If we are living apart from grace, we are unaware of the way pride or arrogance or lust sets up residence in our hearts. Totally unaware! We grow cold to the voice of the Lord. We can check our choices on the outside and feel we do a pretty good job of leading a godly life. But we are unaware of the ways our hearts latch onto sin. Apart from a daily saturation of grace, these heart attitudes can continue for years, even decades. No amount of pushing or prodding can change these attitudes. Only the sweet grace of Jesus can pry loose the hold they have on our lives. When we embrace grace, we are bombarded by the ugliness we really did not know was there. And we are able, by grace, to experience the Spirit scrubbing all those ugly desires away.
Grace takes our fear away. A life that keeps grace at arm's length will always be vulnerable to the pressure or threat of fear. "What will happen if I do this or don't do that? What happens if life goes this way or that way?" But grace conquers those fears. It gives us the assurance of God's ability to protect and lead us. Grace-saturated people can sleep peacefully at night.
Grace gives us confidence. A life that keeps grace at bay will be shaken by every little wind of doctrine. "What if this is wrong? What if I made a mistake by believing this? What if there's something else?" But grace removes all of that. It doesn't ignore other religions but it gives you confidence in the words and person of Christ. When you know Him and see Him, you can easily stand Him up against any other belief or religion out there. And He always measures up! You'll never find Him lacking. Grace gives us the confidence to believe.
Grace always leads to life. A life shaped by grace will always lead others to Jesus. Are you willing to be a part of this? Do you want a grace-shaped life? It really is the gift that provides us the strength to live the life Jesus calls us to. We will never find the ability to stand up faithfully and courageously in Christ apart from grace. The question today is simple. Do you want this life Jesus offers you by grace?