Graceful July

Each month I have something I want to learn about spiritually. Even when I forget to actively pursue those monthly goals, I will reflect back and see that God has so graciously taught them to me anyway. The month of July I wanted to learn about grace. I need so much grace and I need to learn to give grace far more often than I currently do.

Grace has a couple of different meanings. When I looked it up in my Bible Dictionary I read the following: "1. properly speaking, that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, charm, sweetness, loveliness; 2. good will, loving-kindness, mercy, etc; 3. the kindness of a master toward a slave." I will come back to the first part of the definition but want to look at the other two parts first.

Good Will, Loving-Kindness, Mercy
Throughout the month of July, God has shown me so much grace and has also allowed others to show me grace that is defined this way. My roommate, for example, has shown more far more good will, loving-kindness, and mercy than I will ever deserve. She has been patient with me as I figure myself out and as I work through my own craziness. She has humored me in conversations and let things go that would drive others to the crazy house. My best friends have seen and stuck with me through quite a bit of crazy this last year. They have shown me all three things that is described in this portion of grace. I have been served up an amazing group of friends truly by the grace of God.

The Lord has also shown me this type of grace. He has given me so much mercy that I do not deserve. I am sinful and have a wicked heart, yet He exercises the right to give me mercy and not smite me for sinning against Him everyday. I am amazed by the amount of grace the Lord chooses to give me even when I am not following Him as I should. Grace is not earned, it is gifted.

Kindness of a Master toward a Slave
Our "Master" - Christ - has shown us so much grace in His dealings with us. Really. There is no better "Master" to serve than the Lord our God. Typically when we (well me anyway) think of the word "master" it does not hold a positive connotation. Master usually implies someone is over you and it is not by choice. Master implies you are forced or required to do whatever is told to you by this authority figure. Yet, when examining the Lord as Master, we get to see something completely different. The Lord cares for us and has plans for us, "plans for welfare and not for evil." Not that He is going to make us all rich with material wealth. No, His plans are eternal plans. He sees far past right now. He sees well into the future and He sees well into the past. He knows all things. He does all things according to His will. We only see but a tiny glimpse of a puzzle piece in the giant puzzle of life. We only see the here and now, if we are not looking for it and living to make an impact for the Kingdom of God we miss the bigger picture. He commands us out of grace because He knows what is to come.

The word slave is a dirty word to us. To call someone a slave is ... well, it is not acceptable. Yet, we can become a slave to our job, a slave to our studies, a slave to our money, a slave to our video games, a slave to our church, a slave to (fill in the blank). What is better than being a slave to the One who came to love us unconditionally; One who has plans for our welfare and not for evil; One who knows all things, sees all things, and cares for all things. He is the Lord who gave up His only Son, why? Because He cared for us. He showed compassion, mercy, and grace on us when He sent His Son to die for our sin. It all goes back to the gospel. Being a slave to any master that is not the Lord... well it isn't worth it. "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death." (Romans 6:20-21). Our slavery to sin is equal to that of death. Christ took that upon Himself in an act of grace and to give us a hope, a hope in Him. He is the only Master worth following.

Properly Speaking, that which Affords Joy, Pleasure, Delight, Charm, Sweetness, Loveliness
Being graceful means good will, loving-kindness, and mercy. It means the kindness of a master toward his slave. It also means properly speaking... Not just properly speaking, but speaking in a manner that "affords joy, pleasure, delight, charm, sweetness, and loveliness". Oop! Guess I have failed at that one, everyday in the past 6 months (that I can remember...maybe longer). This one seems to hold so much weight, which is why it is fitting for it to be the first definition for the word grace. What would it look like if our words, our manner of speaking, held all of these things? We could change the world! Oh wait, Christ did that. There is only one account of Christ being angry. He had righteous anger, so not the same as when someone cuts me off in traffic and I am "angry".

Christ spoke in a way that was joyful, delightful, pleasurable, charming, sweet, and lovely. He spoke kindly to the Pharisees, yet He did not let them trap Him in their questions. Just because someone is kind in their speech does not mean they have no back bone or that they have no means of protection. Christ was witty. When asked carefully crafted questions, He answered in a way that did not trap Him but also conveyed Truth. His words were joyful. He was (is) the light of the world. He spoke with pleasure. He came to save and was thankful for the opportunity and the hope it provided. He spoke with delight. He delighted (delights) in the Father and spent as much time with Him as possible, as well as spending as much time talking about Him as possible. He spoke with charm. Charm literally means pleasing or attracting. His speech was pleasing and attractive. The people were attracted to what He had to say. He spoke with sweetness. A great example of this is with the woman at the well. Although she was a Samaritan woman and He was a Jew and their people hated one another, He spoke sweetly to her and was kind to her. He loved her and revealed Himself to her. He showed her kindness that no other Jew would have thought to show her. He spoke with loveliness. He knew His purpose for being on Earth. He knew He was to be the blood sacrifice for all men. He loves His people and wants to give hope to all who want it, His words and actions reflected that.


Christ is a perfect example of grace. He exemplifies grace. 

I have so much to learn in the way of grace and pretty much everything else, but the month of July has taught me so much about the grace the Lord has bestowed upon me (and the world). He has done so much and showed me so much grace I do not even know how to respond. I do know I want to be better at showing others the same grace the Lord has shown to me.

The month of August I am learning about Meaningful Words. I want to be weary of what I say. As I look back each day on what I say and how I react to things, I realize that basically crap is coming out of my mouth. I am not showing grace in my manner of speaking. Although this post is about a month late, the Lord has taught me some very interesting things about grace and about speaking Meaningful Words. I look forward to sharing what He has taught me all through August.