Grace Illustrated

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The Need for Grace

Do you need grace? Have there been times when you needed others to share grace with you? Grace is a gift from someone who give us something we don’t deserve. Mercy withholds from us what we really do deserve.

A local newspaper carried an article called “Road Rage” that demonstrated a need for grace. A motorist cut into another driver’s lane so abruptly that the other motorist had to apply his brakes to avoid collision. Both drivers became angry enough that one of them threatened the other with a gun. No shots were fired. Police arrested the gun-wielding man as he came off the interstate: The first man had called the police from his car phone. The gunman resisted arrest and had to be forcibly extracted from his car.

This is a sobering picture of the human heart straight from a local newspaper.

Both of these men left home that morning anticipating a sensible day. Suddenly the behavior of one triggered the ugly side of the other and they were involved in this outrageous behavior. The grace of God in their hearts was missing.

You can have the same kind of outrageous behavior if your heart is not filled with God’s grace.

Biblical Understanding

The Bible says,

If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 

Galatians 5:15-16

One of the benefits of being a Christian is that your behavior is not triggered by the behavior of other people. What a relief! A motorist cannot determine your response, but he or she can reveal it.

If you do not like the truth that you discover, you will become offended and defensive. If you become offended and defensive then you will not benefit from the experience. A very important Bible verse comes into play here. Jesus said,

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:31-32

It does not matter how much trouble you have experienced. God will forgive you if you repent.

Grace Illustrated

A fourteen-year-old boy took his mom’s car without her knowing it. He was going to show the other guys how cool he was. No one would ever know the difference. He was driving down the street and he took the curve too fast. He lost control of the car and before he could gain control, he had crashed into another car.

There were some angry people there. The police came and took him to the station to file a report. Eventually, the boy’s mom arrived at the station.

The boy’s mom could have met him with anger and disapproval, but his mom was calm. While others were angry, his mom knew he needed grace.

It was a terrible mess. Both cars had to be towed away. What could he say? He took the car without permission and the rest is history. His mom had no insurance and no money to pay for the damages. Now, who would pay the price?

The boy’s mom took on a second part-time job to pay for the repair on the cars. Every week the boy had to help his mom with the part-time job. He soon got tired of doing all that work without any pay. At times he was bitter and rebellious, forgetting that he was the one who caused the problem. It took two years of hard work to pay for the damages.

That boy’s disobedience cost his mom two years of work. Maybe you have committed crimes that have affected others also. Even though we are sinners, Christ paid the price for our disobedience. That is called grace.  Notice Paul’s statement:

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

Ephesians 4:7

How much grace have you received from God?

Copyright © 2001 by Kerry L. Skinner