50 Shades of Grace

BY: Deana Bell, Director

So often in life, we are asking for grace. Grace for unmet expectations. Grace for our failures. And grace for those things in life that we never knew were a problem until someone pointed them out.
 
Less often, are we willing to pour out the grace to others that we naturally expect to receive ourselves.
 
James 4:6 says, "And He gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'"
 
John 1:16 goes on to say, "From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another."
 
These verses say two important things:

1. We receive grace when we humble ourselves.
2. We have already received an abundance of grace by what Jesus did for us on the cross.

 
Why, then, is it so hard for us to give out/give back what has already been given to us?
 
Think of it like this…you have been given the gift of grace by your Heavenly Father. However, instead of opening up this gift and keeping it for yourself, you are asked to give it away. What you don't know is that if you give it away, you will keep receiving the gift of grace until you stop giving it away. Once you stop giving it away, you stop receiving another gift of grace.
 
When you are asked to give away the very first gift of grace that your Father gives you, it might be challenging, and you might want to hold on to it. That very first act of faith is the most important. You must trust your Father implicitly that what He is asking you to do is the right thing. You must look beyond your humanness and your selfishness and trust that He knows best.
 
As soon as you give the gift of grace away, you immediately and without delay, receive another gift of grace. This time, it's not as hard to give it away. You now know because you trusted God, that you would get another.
 
In an effort for us all to gift away our gift of grace, I have put together a list of fifty ways to offer grace. Fifty shades of what giving away grace may look like in your life. Ponder each word and think of how you could give this away to someone in your life.
 

1. Admiration
2. Balance
3. Beautification
4. Blessing
5. Celebration
6. Charity
7. Compassion
8. Concentration
9. Consideration
10. Cultivation
11. Decency
12. Dedication
13. Dignity
14. Discussion
15. Ease
16. Elevation
17. Embellishment
18. Enhancement
19. Enrichment
20. Favor
21. Finesse
22. Forgiveness
23. Generosity
24. Glorification
25. Goodness
26. Honor
27. Improvement
28. Leniency
29. Love
30. Loveliness
31. Magnification
32. Mercy
33. Pardon
34. Petition
35. Pleasantness
36. Pliancy
37. Poise
38. Praise
39. Prayer
40. Provision
41. Refinement
42. Respect
43. Responsiveness
44. Support
45. Tact
46. Tenderness
47. Thanks
48. Thanksgiving
49. Thought
50. Tolerance