Grace. It's one of those words that we have read and spoken so often (usually in cliche or idiom form) that it's meaning is all but lost on us. From the way our society speak of grace today you can maybe manage to deduce a few things: it's "amazing" and you always sing it at church, it keeps you from being like that drunken mess you see on the side of the road in the "there but for the grace of God go I" kinda way. It's the prayer you say when you go to certain relatives homes for dinner and it's something that people believe they can lose when they "fall" or sin. Well, the world is a pretty crappy dictionary.
Brendan and I often joke that the best thing about the "gay marriage movement" is that it shows that people still care about words and their definitions! And yet, our society is growing increasingly lazy and overly emotional with it's speech. Everything is "awesome". Everything is a "disaster". Take ME for example: "Your shoes are awesome!" Did my clients shoes really inspire awe in me when I saw them? NO. So, Why did I say that? Was the kitchen truly "a disaster" when I got home or had the dinner's dishes not been done yet? Why do I get overwhelmed so easily? The words I chose even in the small things shape my attitude, dictates my approach, and reveals the condition of my heart.
I have been a "visual" and "sensitive" person as long as I can remember and never really thought in words. When someone would speak to me about an experience, I literally SEE a vision in my mind's eye of what the person is saying. It was usually conceptual... my mind using this imagined scenario to help me envision whatever it is they are saying so that I could better understand what they are supposedly feeling. I always gave more credit to feelings and emotions than I did words....believing that this "perception" was a superior way to establish a deeper connection with people on an emotional level. This is total bullshit.
What I've come to understand, is that words are of far more importance than feelings because they shape the thoughts which ultimately become our beliefs. Our feelings are simply supplemental; given to enhance and deepen our experiences in living. To be guided by feelings is a characteristic of a child, yet to be guided by what we believe, even often in spite of having feelings to the contrary, is the very character of Jesus Christ.
The English language is a vast and beautifully detailed palette of color from which you can paint your thoughts with remarkable precision. Over my years of serious Bible study, I have grown to care dearly about words. Words mean a great deal to God...after all, they ARE the way in which He has chosen to communicate with us. Reading, studying, and sharing the words of the Bible are essential for those in Christ. We are to do this so that God "might sanctify and cleanse (us) with the washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5:26) which will results in "being transformed by the renewing of the mind" (Romans 12:2). Once fully engaged and completely reliant on the Bible, it begins to change our thoughts into the very WORDS of God. Our next responsibility is to then to communicate God's truth with the world... a big responsibility that I do not take lightly. Therefor, I am very deliberate about the words I choose in my speech (and writing) because I see the gravity of their truth and accuracy.
If I cannot speak my beliefs in a way that expresses precisely what I believe or if the person I am speaking to lacks the ability to understand the meaning of the words I am using...we are not communicating effectively and neither of us is edified. Yet, I know that each time that I thoughtfully and confidently communicate that which I believe to be true, making sure that they are understanding with clarity exactly WHAT I am saying, the chance for those words turning into actions dramatically increase...for the both of us! If I was to remain content with perceptions and ambiguous feelings, I fear I might never have been able to establish (for myself , the world, and to God) what it is exactly that I believe...even worse, I may have never seen the importance. THERE but for the grace of God go I! (-idiom used accurately and Biblicaly).
So why IS the word GRACE important? Grace is defined as " the free unmerited love and favor of God, the spring and source of all the benefits men receive from him." // "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" ~ Ephesians 2:8
It is only by God's grace that I am able to accept the gift of Salvation through the Faith of Christ. Without Christ dying for my sins and being raised from the dead for my justification, I would not be given or able to receive such a gift. God's favor is upon HIS SON and my being in HIS SON is the only reason God's favor is upon me. I certainly don't deserve it. I am no better than any other person who has walked this earth and yet, in Christ, I am given the chance to walk in grace.
So what does "the grace life" look like? It is one that operates under the precept that I (the old man) have been put to death on the cross with Christ and that the life I now live is not mine, but Christ living through me (Galatians 2:20). It is a life with a heart of overflowing gratitude. It is a life of righteousness in response to the unwavering faithfulness of God. It is a life of hope that elevates the believer above the pain and corruption of this dying world. It is also a life of charity (love+truth) that gladly puts the needs of other's before it's own. It is a life given BY God which is then given TO God to be used FOR God. It is both simple and difficult...and it is the life God desires for every believer.
People who are living this life are few and far between and I by no means claim to be one of them....but I want to be one of them. The few people that I have been fortunate enough to know who ARE living in the grace they have been given... truly are amazing. They are fearless, kind, thoughtful, wise, light hearted, loving and filled with a peace that only God's word can give. They pray without ceasing, study their Bible with a passion, work hard, and are well acquainted with joy. They are "The life of Christ" being lived out in the life of "His body" here on earth.
So here it begins...the first step taken on my journey to turn an amazing "word" into HIS amazing "life".
Come along will you? Thank you for reading.
(Lov)e,
-k.
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