Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32).
Being graceful doesn’t come naturally to me. I’m the one who prefers shoes without heels, because honestly, I don’t trust myself not to twist an ankle while wearing them. Dancing, and particularly line- dancing, doesn’t come easily for me either. Although I can usually pick up the rhythm, the quick steps required to stay with the group make me feel clumsy and inept. Needless to say, the art of being a ballet dancer was never on my radar.
Being a grace-full woman doesn’t come naturally to me, either. I am reminded in Romans 3:23 that … all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. I am sinful and thus an enemy of God. I deserve only God’s wrath and condemnation. I am separated from Him by an insurmountable wall of my sin, built daily — brick by brick, sin by sin.
… But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). What Good News! God saw my wretched state and sent His Son Jesus to be born, live a perfect life, suffer and die as a result of my sins, and then rise to glorious new life, conquering sin, death, and the devil. I can wear Christ’s robe of righteousness because of God’s grace — His undeserved love — for me by faith in Jesus. That faith, too, is a result of grace through the Spirit, since it is not natural for me. I am literally full of God’s grace in Jesus and altogether forgiven and lovely in His sight.
The Spirit working in me enables me to share this grace with others in my life. I’m filled with an overflowing grace that simply spills over into the relationships I have with those around me.
What does that grace look like? As the words of Ephesians remind us, it is kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. It is a “new natural” in Christ Jesus. This grace loves, serves, and has compassion for others. This Spirit-filled grace looks for ways to bring the Good News of salvation through Jesus to a world that desperately needs to hear it as it stumbles around in sin and darkness. Do you know someone who is groping in the darkness of sin who needs to hear today about God’s grace in Jesus?
Being a graceful person doesn’t come naturally for me. Perhaps not for you, either. But praise be to God that He has made me His grace-full woman through the merits of my Savior. I don’t deserve it and in fact, sometimes I still stumble and fall, but His nail-scarred hands, through His gift of faith, are there to lift me up, forgive me, and set me on the right path. I can look forward with hope to an eternity in heaven with Him. What more can I do than to thank, praise, and serve Him — grace-fully!
Closing Prayer: Dear Gracious Father, thank You for Your gifts of salvation and faith in our Savior Jesus. Thank You for giving us Your undeserved love. Help us to share Your love through kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. Make us Spirit-filled and bold witnesses to the Good News of salvation in Jesus to a world that desperately needs to hear. Make us Your grace-full people as we look forward in hope to eternal life with You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
A Blessing from 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
A Grace-Full Woman by Shari Miller, East Helena, Montana
Published by Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, 2019 lwml.org