Grace to You

ENGLISH

To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.—2 Timothy 1:2

There are statements I repeat over and over again. For example, in my home, I make two statements frequently to my children; "I love you" and "Make good choices" are among the two. And I repeat these sayings because I want my children to remember them.

In the same way, Paul does this with Timothy. In this last letter, the last one he would ever write, he says some very consistent things to Timothy, who is his son in the faith. One such expression is, "Take courage." But sometimes we miss that Paul says something repeatedly without fail at the beginning and the close of every letter he ever wrote? Without fail he says "Grace to you" at the beginning, and "Grace with you" at the end.

And why?

Well, because he wants to beat it into our thick skulls. In our stubbornness, we tend to forget that it's grace that fuels our identity and relationships. That we both need grace and need to extend grace to others. We forget this all time when we live in fear, shame, and guilt. And we tend to forget this all the time when we are justifiably angry, irritated, and frustrated with others. Don't we?

You need to hear this today. Grace is what distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. Grace is the power by which God accepts us and transforms us. And you need to both receive it and extend it. So today, remember this—Grace to you, and grace be with you.

ASK THIS: Do you need to receive God's grace or extend God's grace today?

DO THIS: Accept it or extend it, and do it right now.

PRAY THIS: God, I accept the fact that you love me despite my sin, and I receive your grace today for all my failures. But I also extend this grace to that person who needs it so that they may know your grace through me.

PLAY THIS: Unspoken. Call it Grace.

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9 thoughts on “Grace To You

  1. Tomasz Michałowski says:

    Wspaniałe pomysły kosztują grosze. Bezcenni są ludzie, którzy je urzeczywistniają. Twj blog jest tego wspaniałym przykładem…

  2. SHELDON Bullard says:

    I need to extend grace today to E. F, D.F and P.R for holding onto anger. for how i feel i was treated

  3. Marty Roddy says:

    Love to GARCFE reminder

    Love the grace reminder-Thanks Wrote it down and will share like jelly beans…Been living and sharing Love since Baptism—so add some Grace to the “Recipe”

  4. Gregory Kuhn says:

    Such a good word for today. Far too often I struggle giving grace to those closest to me. God help me to pour out the grace You continually show me.

  5. Danny Leo says:

    Great Devo!

    It’s a great reminder that I need to extend ‘unmerited, not deserved, not earned’ favor or Grace to others just as Christ extended ‘unmerited, not deserved, not earned” or Grace to Me, while on the cross to restore My relationship to God the Father.

    For it is *by grace* you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

  6. Cory B says:

    I struggle with this… I find it so easy to have and give grace to acquaintances or people I do not know, but fail miserably with those closest to me.

    If anyone has suggestions I’d love to hear them.

    • Todd says:

      I struggled with this also concluding that I was taking for granted those closest to me. They were and are always there for me, solid and steadfast. Those closest to us are also our neighbors- we are told to love our neighbors. If you are really brave give those closest to you permission to tell you when you fail to give grace. Once you discern the problem you can fix the problem.

    • Steven Harden says:

      Cory, I also struggle with this. 40 years together and 38 of those as a Christian I am still a work in progress. It does get better.. Pray, pray, pray. You can do this! We are studying the book of James it is an eye opener.

    • David says:

      It is so easy to receive grace, but I struggle giving grace to the ones closest to me. Lord help me to give grace as easily as I receive it.

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