Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound! We all know the beloved hymn Amazing Grace and God’s grace is just that…amazing, but, are we as good at grace as He is?

When you look up grace in a dictionary, you will find at least 7 explanations of it as a noun. It can mean simple elegance or refinement of movement, for example, a ballerina is graceful. Grace, the second definition is: Courteous goodwill (friendly, helpful, or cooperative feelings or attitude.) And, then we get to the Christian definition which is: A spontaneous gift from God to people – generous, free, and unexpected and undeserved. As the hymn explains God’s grace is amazing. He can give us undeserved gifts easily and he does. He has amazing grace because He is amazing!

But the word grace is not just to be looked at as a noun. The word is also a verb. God graces us daily with his goodwill. He does it easily because he is God, but just like he expects us to love as he has loved us, I think he expects us to show grace to others as he has shown grace to us. (This is harder for us because we aren’t quite as amazing as he is!)

So, how can we practice God’s grace in our lives?

Before we dive in we need to recognize where grace comes from. Grace is the unmerited, unearned love and favor of God. So we have grace from God and if we have that, we should be able to share it, right?

2 Corinthians 9:8 states: 

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

You are equipped to practice God’s grace with others.

2 Timothy 1:9 even tells us that grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.

He has saved us and called us to a holy life-not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

We’ve had it since the beginning of time, so we need to share it! So how can we go about that? The following are some ideas:

• Just like we learned with our love lesson, we have to love ourselves before we can share love with others, and grace is the same way. You need to start practicing grace by giving yourself grace. How many times have you told someone else to give themselves grace but you find it hard to do for yourself? Treat yourself with Kindness – If you practice grace with yourself it will be easier to extend it to others.
• Learn to Let Go – many things are out of our control so to practice grace we need to let go. However, if there is something in your control that you need to do to let it go, you must. If you are holding on to anger or bitterness, you need to forgive. And if something is nagging at you, you may need to apologize. Forgiveness and apologies allow everyone to move on.
• Practice Gratitude – I thought this was a no-brainer since I was raised with this discipline, but I was surprised a few years ago when I attended a workshop and the speaker suggested attendees begin writing down 3 things they were thankful for daily and one person questioned what to do if you didn’t have 3. We ALWAYS have things to be thankful for. Be mindful of them. It is easy to act with grace when you recognize all you have been given and are thankful for.
• Have Compassion & Speak Kindly – You never know what someone is going through. Compassion means “sympathetic pity & concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others” CONCERN for the misfortune of others. That person who is having a bad day needs compassion even if their bad day is causing them to behave in a way that is hard to be compassionate to. Proverbs 15:1-2 says “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.” Speak kindly & compassionately. The phrase “Bless her heart” comes to mind. It sincerely means fondness or sympathy for someone but it has turned into an underhanded insult sometimes in the south. I’ve never really used it, but I like it and even if I started to say it as an insult, the sincere meaning could be found. Seriously, if I used it because I felt like someone did something I thought was stupid and didn’t know any better, I might say “Bless her heart” but maybe I should be expressing compassion – sincere pity or concern that the person didn’t have the same ability to understanding as I did. Wink wink. (OK, the next lesson should be on humility!!) Regardless – Bless her heart!! Which moves us to the next way to practice grace..,…
• Accept People for who they are. You cannot change others, you can only change how you interact with them. Colossians 3:12-14 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. You will be practicing grace when you accept others as they are and deal with them using compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience & love. 
• Lastly, Have a sense of humor – I had a conversation the other morning in which I was sharing all my aches and pains and troubles of the day and my friend was commiserating and sharing all of hers from back pain & a cold to a flooded basement, & broken wrist. I ended the conversation by saying she would turn it all into a funny story…eventually. When times are tough, show yourself grace and learn to laugh about it. There is an emoji for SMH (Shaking my head. ) The open palmed hand on the face. I use that one maybe a little too often to express my frustration with myself or others and maybe I need to simply follow that up with a smiling emoji and laugh. The next time I use that palm in the face emoji I may have to use it as an alert that I need to show myself or someone else some grace.

These are all practical ways you can practice grace simply and daily, but none of them will ever be as amazing as the amazing grace our amazing God has given us. How sweet the sound!