Grace

My God has shown me plenty of grace and mercy. He gave his son, Jesus, to die for my sins. He forgives me time and again even though I am not worthy. I am righteous, right with God, because of the sacrifice of Jesus. God gave us this gift because He loves us so much.

[F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24Romans 3:23-24
English: World English Bible - WEB
23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; ²⁴ being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;

I have my Pharisee days from time to time. Even though I have been shown grace by my awesome God, I have trouble showing grace to my family. I read in The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller that a Pharisee is a person who is “trusting in your own goodness rather than in Jesus for your standing with God.” (Keller, p. 177) Instead of being humble knowing that I am saved by grace alone, I try doing works thinking that it is going to earn me points with God. I want to save myself by following Jesus’ example rather than being saved by Jesus. I’ve got it backwards in my head thinking that the law is what saves me not that being saved causes me to follow the law

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. Romans 3:20Romans 3:20
English: World English Bible - WEB
20 Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

The law only points out that I am truly a sinner. Seeing my sin should motivate me to follow the law and remind me that the gift of Jesus is incredible. As I ponder all of this, I can’t help but think about the lyrics to a Veggie Tales song – Stop! And Go with Mercy. Listening to the song with my kids reminds me that seeing my sin should help me to forgive others and give them another chance – basically show everyone, especially my family, a little grace and ultimately show them how much I truly love them.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31Mark 12:30-31
English: World English Bible - WEB
30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. ³¹ The second is like this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

It’s my job to teach my children to love God and their neighbor. I need to lead by example to show them how to love others. One way to express your love is to show others some grace since we all fall short of the glory of God. My life and relationship with my children gives them a tiny glimpse of what to expect from their awesome God. He shows grace and mercy to us all who accept it, and He loves them more than they will ever know.

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