What comes to mind when you hear the word grace? Do you think of a grace period on a loan? Has a teacher given you a grace period for turning in an assignment? Have you thought about the grace of God? What does God’s grace mean to you?
We all have experienced grace in one form or another. We likely have shown grace to someone else, perhaps without knowing it. Often a loan includes a grace period, allowing a payment to be late without penalty. Grace can even be synonymous with being pardoned.
Pardon. That’s a good synonym for God’s grace. Because of Jesus going to the cross to be the payment for our sins, we are pardoned, though we like to use the word forgiven. The same meaning comes from all three of those words when it comes to our sin. Yet God’s grace is bigger than just forgiveness, though forgiveness is included.
We like to say that God’s grace is “unmerited favor.” That is true. But what does that mean to us in our everyday lives? It is God blessing us with the breath of life. We experience grace in God giving us skills, talents, physical health, and a sharp mind. God may shed his grace on us without us knowing it. It may come in the form of a speed bump, slowing us down so that we are not in the wrong place at the wrong time, even if it is frustrating to us in the moment.
Paul tells the Corinthians not to accept God’s grace in vain. What does he mean? He means that we should not accept God’s grace and do nothing with it. We are to bear fruit for God with the grace he has shown us. We are to accept his grace with an expectation that we are to be a better representative of him. God deserves it. We will be better for it.
I pray we all seek a better understanding of God’s grace. I pray we know God sheds his grace on us each day. I pray each one of us will not take God’s grace for granted but be a better representative of his. Understand God’s grace. Accept his grace. Use it to be a better person.
2 Corinthians 6:1 As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.
Marty Pressey 