While thoughts from my previous post are still roaming around in my head, I ran across a much needed to hear (read) post that Crystal posted last month. The post was about grace and as I read the post I was struck by the fact that grace in many situations is what others will first see in us that makes us different from everyone else. When I posed the questions in my previous post (what impact (do) you have on other people’s lives? What difference have you really made?), I hadn’t really thought to deeply about how much grace could really play a part in the answers. Do you suppose that I have made an impact on someone else’s life simply because I have extended to them grace? What difference do you suppose it made to the person on the receiving end of the grace given, if any? Don’t you suppose that extending grace to others also brings about change in us as well? Absolutely!! How simple an act of Gods love in us, yet profound in that it’s not a commonality in today’s world. All of you must clothe yourselves with humility for the sake of each other, because: “God opposes the arrogant, but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5 I know for myself that sometimes extending grace to someone is not always my first reaction, at least not in the past. Instead, its easier to judge, criticize, and get defensive. It is that gut reaction to someone else’s actions, appearance, choices, etc…. But, giving grace really is not about the other person at all, it is in fact about me…its about growing in Christ and become more like Him, its about humbling ourselves. It is learning to see others the way God sees them so that my gut reactions is changed and in effect blessing the other person at the same time. “Grace blesses the recipient” through a heart that has been humbled by the grace first given to them by Christ. "We can heal their broken bodies and restore their fallen hearts if only we would stop judging them for how they fell apart in the first place." J.C. Ryle God was the first and truest example of grace in that he gave His son…who would be persecuted, and ultimately die to free us from our sins (read Crystals blog, she says all this, just better) and he extends that grace to us everyday, how grateful I am for that! Through out, He showed continual grace to those who had been shunned, and ridiculed because of their status or behavior. How much more so should we, who are called by his name, be willing to extend grace to others? Amazing grace, that saved a retch like me…could be all that someone else needs, could change a life…could save a life!