Grace

     This month's theme of our church's small group is the scandal that is God's grace. God meets each person where we are, accepts us in whatever condition we are in, and moves us forward in love. Grace is the key I have to love God. God's outstanding acceptance of any human that shows up at His door in any condition, makes me deeply and truly love him.
     I am so happy to have found this love and this grace I so profoundly need it. In the sermon that the pastor gave introducing the topic he described the most common responses to God's grace that we as humans can have. The first is humble acceptance with open arms. Humble because we admit that there is nothing we can possibly do to earn this gift we have to take it completely without pride. The second is flat out rejection. We reject because we think we are too sinful--too far gone. Or we reject it because we do not feel that we need it. Both are pride. Both say that, "I am bigger than God. I am beyond God and He cannot help me."
     After we rightly and honestly give our mess to God, He calls us to the most difficult of our callings, He wants us to have this for our fellow humans. It is hard to be hurt. It is hard to see what that person has done and said and then let it go. I was recently watching my favorite murder mystery show and they ended with this quote from Faust: "Forgiveness does not change the past but it does enlarge the future." This is the life I want to live and this is who I want to be. I must realize that I have been given God's grace because I need it, therefore, I must also extend it to others. I want a bigger future.