The Grace Challenge

Grace is: 1.a state of sanctification by God  2. a disposition to be generous or helpful; goodwill, mercy 3. a fevor rendered by one who need not do so.

This week is all about grace and how we as moms, teachers, aunts, grandmas, etc are the example for the children in our lives on how we not only give them grace but also how we give grace to others. 

"Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people.  Do not try to get ahead at the cost of your neighbor's life, for I am the Lord. Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives.  Confront your neighbors directly do you will not be held guilty for their crimes.  Never seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone, but love your neighbors as yourself. I am the Lord"
                                                                                               Leviticus 19:16-18

I was a little confused after reading that scripture, but thankfully Karol Ladd clears things up.  This was at a time when thousands of Israelites were traveling to the Promised Land through unknown land and had a very long way to go.  In order to have some sense of civility they were given the laws above for dealing with both people and circumstances as they traveled.  As hard as they are to follow in real life, our real life... a  few of those laws would be great to live by today (navigating the craziness of life and motherhood, right?).   

Thankfully as Christians today we have the beautiful gift of God's grace in our lives due to Christ's sacrifice on the cross for US.  We are not under a strict law like these Israelites were... as recievers of Gods grace, we should be giving it as much as we are recieving it.  This is hard for me sometimes and you know your lying if you say "oh, not me".  Life is challenging, busy and complicated for everyone in many different ways.  We are faced with situations on a daily, weekly, monthly basis where we have to make sound decisions on how we will react to people based on our beliefs and values.  We are put in situations where its challenging to give grace to others.  I am going to quote Karol Ladd in her book, because she says it better than I could, "And what does grace toward others look like? I think it looks alot like todays [scripture].  Guarding our mouths from gossip, forgiving, not holding grudges - all of these are practical ways we can shed God's grace on the people around us.  Let's teach our kids, through our words and our example, to reflect on the goodness of God's wonderful grace and, in turn, to offer that grace to others." 

I will admit, I am a WHOLE lot better at giving grace to Paxton because he is a baby/toddler/child - young.  Its somehow easier to give him grace because he is so innocent and trying to distinguish right from wrong.  I think I needed this devotional today to help me work specifically on giving grace to adults in the form of guarding my heart from grudges.  I take things people say and do towards me way to personally and hold that feeling inside in the form of a grudge.  I am going to work specifically on this.  We all apply things differently in our lives - I hope you can use her devotional in your life as you need it this week and beyond.

Choices:
- This week I will choose to focus on God's great love and grace towards me.
- This week I will choose to show grace toward others.
- This week I will choose to ask God's help in guarding my heart and mind.
- This week I will choose to ...

Prayer:
"God of grace and mercy, thank you for pouring your grace on me through the sacrifice of your Son.  I praise you that through faith in Jesus, I am forgiven.  Help me now to forgive others.  Guard my mouth from gossip and my heart from grudges.  Teach me to be a conduit of your grace so that grace flows freely through me to my family members and all the other people in my life.  Thank you for your Word and the direction it gives for living and loving in grace.  In Jesus's name I pray, amen."

I challenge you this week, as I am challenging myself, to use God's grace in your life in whatever way you feel you need it.  I am constantly reminding myself being with Paxton all day, little ears are listening and little eyes are watching... we have a big responsibility on our hands in teaching these little ones how to be better people than we are.  Thank goodness for God's grace :)

Have a great week!