Grace was a recent topic of discussion in our group of leadership. How do we incorporate grace and growth into words that accurately depict our relationship with our Father? Many examples of the parent/child paradigm came into play. When we teach our kids to walk, we don't take them to the edge of a cliff. We put bumpers around them to protect them, we catch them before they fall, etc... But, eventually, we have to let them fall. We may pick them up a few times, but then again, they need to learn to pick themselves up. So, as a good parent, are we taking grace away as they grow? Somehow that wording doesn't seem to fit with our knowledge of our good Father. God told Paul that His grace was sufficient for his circumstance. So, do we just call it sufficient grace? Today a phrase stuck out to me while listening to an interview of John Bevere. He used the phrase "more grace." All of a sudden I had this "duh" moment. I have said it countless times to numerous people, grace is the higher standard. What the law made you accountable for in outward action only, the new covenant, grace, makes us accountable for in our inward thoughts. Grace is the enabling power for God to do through us what we can never accomplish in our own strength. In James 4:6 it says that God gives us more grace and goes on to say that He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Doesn't that make sense to say that He gives us more grace? As we encourage our child to walk, we're giving them more grace because we know they can handle it. As we hand our 16 year old the keys to the car, we're giving them more grace with that promotion of responsibility because we trust them to handle it. Promotion carries more responsibility and therefore feels like more pressure, particularly in the beginning. It may cause us to feel lacking and unable. That's where God's grace comes in. As we approach each new level or place with humility, He lavishes us with more grace, enabling us to do through Him what we could never do on our own. Every scripture I read on grace proves that very thing. In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul said, "But by the grace of God I am what I am." He also said in 2 Corinthians 1:12 that the confidence in their testimony came through the grace of God, not through human wisdom. According to Hebrews 2:9 it was the grace of God that empowered Jesus to die on the cross. 2 Corinthians 6:1 encourages us not to receive His grace in vain. It is that very grace that empowers us to do what truth demands. We are to live in a way that would never be possible without it. To mature and handle more of His kingdom. Think of it like this, in the video game world it's called leveling up. Each new level you come to you start out with new tools or an extra life because you're going to need it. Just remember, in the real world, He resists the proud, so humility is key. What do I need? More grace!
