a season of grace

i feel like i am living in a season of grace. the Lord is teaching me SO much about this topic. mostly about how He is gracious towards me, so i need to be a gracious person. sounds so bland & plain, but it has brought so much depth & truth to my life.

grace is God's unmerited favor. it is a gift from Him. the very breath that we draw is only by the grace of God. so it can easily be said that every thing good in our lives is by His grace. and everything bad happens b/c He allows it to, out of His grace & love. to teach us, grow us, rebuke us, prune us, love us, correct us & show us His perfect will for our lives.

as a mom, i want to show grace to my children. i want to be quick to forgive, quick to love, quick to teach & slow to anger, frustration & criticism. i want my speech, actions, motives & discipline towards them to be seasoned with grace. it shouldn't be a hard thing to do b/c they are so sweet & loving towards me. but some days, it is hard. some days: i discipline out of anger, raise my voice out of frustration & lose my patience b/c i forget that they are little & still learning the right way to behave. but the Lord is always quick to convict me & remind me that i should give them grace. b/c just as it takes Jack several commands before he shares or Jovie several commands before she stops pulling every single wipe out of the box, it takes me several commands from the Lord before i get it. before i repent, learn my lesson & turn to Him.

i am learning to have grace with my husband. instead of allowing my feelings to get hurt so that i become angry or believing the lie that he is too busy for me, i want to have grace. i want to give him the benefit of my doubt. because i know in my heart, that Ben loves the Lord and loves me. he has proven it over & over. so i want to be a wife that is full of grace. i want to be fully supportive, pray without ceasing for him & treat him with respect. the Lord has given me grace time & again for my actions, thoughts & intentions. so, i should show abounding grace to my husband.

i want to have grace with people. i want to love them & serve them as Christ loves me. i want to treat them the same way Christ treats me. i want to forgive every time, withhold bitterness, bite my tongue instead of being brutally blunt, pray for them instead of curse them & be a picture of Jesus when i feel like allowing my flesh to intercede.

i could expound more. get more personal about how i have learned grace with specific people or specific times in my own sinful behavior, but i won't. because this is a blog post & not an autobiography!

so, i will share some of my favorite verses about grace. because His word is so much sweeter than mine.

Psalm 86:6
"give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace."

John 1:16
"and from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace."

Acts 20:24
"but i do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only i may finish my course and the ministry that i received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."

Acts 20:32
"and now i commend you to God and the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give the inheritance among all those who are sanctified."

Romans 5:20-21
"now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Romans 6:14
"for sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."

2 Corinthians 1:12
"for our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so towards you."

2 Corinthians 9:8
"and God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."

2 Corinthians 12:9
"but he said to me 'my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness' therefore i will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

praying that the Lord never stops showing me grace & that i learn to have grace with everyone. i want to be slow to anger, patient & loving. i know this is a life long lesson i will face but by His grace, i can do it. day by day.