Grace such a simple word and yet it is a miracle given to us by God.
The definition of Grace ~ in Christianity, the condition of being free of sin, e.g. through repentance to God, it is the infinite love, mercy, favor, and goodwill shown to humankind by God.
The Bible tells us ~ "For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone be found boasting. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10
Grace is given unto us as a gift from God. We do not have to earn it only accept it. We need to feel honored that God loved us enough to sacrifice his son for our salvation.
Grace is given to everyone. It doesn’t matter how big or small the sin. Indeed we are all sinners in either word or action. We all have shameful moments deep in our hearts that we don’t want people to know about.
Grace has nothing to do with being “worthy” of it. Jesus died for our sins, we are all washed clean by his blood.
I have made many mistakes in my life and hurt people that I loved deeply because of those things.I can only ask forgiveness from everyone my actions hurt. Know this I never intentionally set out to hurt anyone and I was a very naive young woman; really I was just a kid. I hurt my parents and husband.
The mistakes I made were at a young age; I learned from them and they in turn help shape me into the woman I am today. A woman that I'm very proud of.
I know through grace that God has already forgiven me for those mistakes. I just could not forgive myself and I allowed people to treat me with disrespect because I felt they had that right; because I had sinned.
I had to forgive myself and learn to love myself. For if God loved me so much that he gave his only son for my salvation; how could I not love myself as he does?
The prostitute, drug addict, rapist and child molester have the gift of grace as well. This was hard for me to understand and accept at first. No sin is exempt from grace.
Also it is not my place to judge people when they do sin even if it’s against me. I am guilty of this and not proud of it. I’m deeply ashamed of myself for this.
My ex is one of those people and it is not my place to judge him or anyone for that matter. I have forgiven him for all the hurts and even asked his forgiveness for any part I might have played in the demise of our relationship.
But I still judged him, I think in part because he was never apologetic for any of the things he did to me. It fact the last time I spoke with him he was outraged about my blog.
I asked him if I had lied about anything that happened and he said “No’ “but that he could write his own blog to justify why he did all those things” and I replied “I wish you would because I honestly would like to know myself why you organized and carried out the execution of my heart”. I’m not trying to be dramatic but that is the best explanation of how he destroyed my love for him.
I have to stop being his judge and jury. I have to stop expecting him to ask me for forgiveness. I cannot make him regret the affairs or abuse nor can I ever demand him to be repentant to me. The only entity he has to be accountable to is God. Indeed he is the only one any of us have to be accountable to.
I have asked God to forgive me for being so un-Christ like and I will ask my ex to forgive me as well. I sincerely have forgiven him for everything I believe in my heart that if he came to me with a sincere apology that I would be able to close the door on this. I’m one of those people who have to know the “Why’s” of everything. I am a work in progress…
I used to tell him someday I would get my apology even if I had to wait at the “Pearly Gates” for his arrival and I would tell “Saint Peter” that he could not pass through those gates till I got my apology, of course if he got there first he would just have to wait on me(Saint Peter and I have come to an understanding about this)! Ha Ha! I can be a bit hard-headed at times.
Grace is available for us every day we just have to stumble toward the light and ask for it.
A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.
~Mohandas Gandhi
Hate the sin and not the sinner is a precept which though easy enough to understand is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world.
~ Mohandas Gandhi
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| My wedding day...So very long ago... |
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