In my previous post, ARE YOU A HAMMER OR A HELPING HAND?, I started exploring a phrase used to describe Jesus: “full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14,17) I made the point the phrase “truth and grace” is not found in the Bible, no matter how many translations you search. I believe the phrase, “grace and truth”, accurately describes the attitude and actions of Jesus towards others. Jesus was a man whose actions spoke as loud as his words. His walk and his talk were consistent and each complemented the other. Jesus lived GRACE FIRST and we do well when we follow his example.
I don’t know too many people who don’t like to be on the receiving end of grace. To clarify, I am thinking of grace in the way it’s defined at brainyquote.com: “The exercise of love, kindness, mercy, favor; disposition to benefit or serve another; favor bestowed or privilege conferred.” Grace, as you’re probably aware, is not extended towards someone because they’ve earned or deserved it. Grace flows from an inner place; it flows from our spiritual heart. Grace can be a response or reaction to someone or something else, but it must first be conceived of in our heart. What I am suggesting here is we have to decide to live GRACE FIRST. We have to choose to offer a helping hand, instead of dropping the hammer on someone. Our instinct [fleshly desire], especially when dealing with someone or something which somehow challenging to us, is to react TRUTH FIRST. We want to give someone what we think they deserve. We want to confront whatever is wrong and blast the person into submission.
To live GRACE FIRST is to choose, as the familiar saying goes, “to err on the side of grace.” I don’t know what that means to you, but to me it’s a helpful reminder to be grace-full in my interactions with others. What’s the worst thing that could happen if we choose to live GRACE FIRST? (Sometimes by considering the worst-case scenario, we defuse our fears.) When we live GRACE FIRST, someone may take advantage of our kindness, and none of us like to feel like we’ve been taken advantage of. When we live GRACE FIRST, the person we’re dealing with may misinterpret our response. It’s amazing how many people look upon gracefulness as weakness.
Someone may take advantage of our kindness, or misinterpret it as some type of weakness. (It takes a strong person to live GRACE FIRST!). I’ve been taken advantage of, and misinterpreted before, so that can’t be the worst thing. An important question is: Are we willing to risk grace? Are we willing to risk how may be received or how we may be perceived by others, when we live GRACE FIRST?
Long before Charlie Sheen made infamous the word, “Winning”, people have been driven by a desire to win. We want to win arguments, we want to control the people and situations around us, and, God forbid, we would ever feel weak or vulnerable. Even those of us who are devoted to Christ still possess enough self-centeredness and self-interest we can easily slip into the mode of being a taker, instead of a giver.
I’ll continue this theme in my next blog post, because I want to consider further the implications of “grace and truth.” Clearly, this is not an either/or scenario, but a both/and. Even when we’re choosing to live GRACE FIRST, the TRUTH is going to play a major role in how we navigate the circumstances of life and the opportunities to represent Christ in our world. Until then, choose to be grace-full, just like Jesus.
“Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” *Martin Luther
“Grace is what God gives us when we don’t deserve; and mercy is when God doesn’t give us what we do deserve.” *Unknown
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