Galatians 3:21 For if law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.
This weekend Jamie and I took the kids to the arcade. We played lots of games and tried to win lots of tickets. Some games required minimal effort and the tickets came spilling out. Other games required lots of effort yet only one ticket would come out.
It reminded me of God’s grace on our lives. God’s grace is UNLIMITED and UNCONDITIONAL. The ticket’s that represent his grace come spilling out at us without any effort on our part. We don’t have to do anything. No, we’ve already been given FREE grace, and because we have unlimited tickets, that means that we as Christians should be able to then extend grace to those around us FREELY. It means we shouldn’t feel like our spouses, kids, friends or anyone else should earn our love.
The Christian journey is this: we are incapable of being made right with God on our own account. No amount of rule-keeping could get us to heaven. Yet UNCONDITIONAL love for those in our lives can only come from understanding that profound GIFT OF GRACE given first to us…I am on the receiving end of that gift which means I should be able to give out free tickets of unconditional love to everyone in my life, including my spouse.
Today, I realized that my lack of understanding of grace is leaving me poor if I truly understood that I have been given the greatest gift of all, GRACE. If I fully understood, I would give it to others generously without finding fault. If I realized my richness, than I would gladly be offering grace to everyone around me. God has already given us the greatest gift of all. Will I hoard my arcade tickets that were given freely to me or will I use my tickets to provide the greatest gifts of all through the power of the Holy Spirit, unconditional LOVE?
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