Hebrews chapter 12 verse 15 (NIV)
See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9 (NIV)
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
John Chapter 8 verse 7 (NIV)
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
The verse in Hebrews caught my attention today. The writer to the Hebrews cautions the church to see to it that no one falls short of the grace of God. And my first thought was, how can we do that – we can’t make people accept God’s grace. Surely, they can only do that for themselves? But as I considered it, and the rest of the verse, I realised that we can hinder people coming to know God’s grace by our attitude towards them. If we hold a grudge against someone, then there is little chance that we will be able to effectively offer God’s grace to them. We might feel that we can’t do so; perhaps we feel we have been hurt too deeply, or that they deserve whatever is coming to them. But we need to remember two things –
- We ourselves have been the recipients of God’s grace, His unmerited favour, through the sacrifice of Christ. Therefore, we have no right not to withhold grace from anyone. When we remember the story of the woman caught in adultery, we recall that the law decreed that she should be stoned to death. And Jesus uttered those well-quoted words, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Imagine if her husband was in the crowd? Or the wife of the man with whom she was found? Perhaps they would have felt justified in throwing the first stone – until Jesus spoke, and everything changed.
- It may be a completely different set of circumstances that we face and we might feel justified in feeling as we do. But those words of Jesus apply to our situation too. But if we feel we can’t extend that grace by ourselves, we need to remember Paul’s message to the Corinthians. Jesus further extends His grace to us to be able to do what we can’t do by ourselves. By His further grace to us we can indeed pass that grace on to others. And in doing so, there is no chance that the root of bitterness, that causes such destruction in our lives, will be able to take hold of us. Then if we genuinely extend forgiveness and grace to someone, we open the door for them to encounter God and His grace for themselves.
Dear Lord,
Thank You for the freedom that comes from both accepting Your grace and extending it to others. Help me to remember that the grace of Christ gives us the power to do the difficult things that we could never do by ourselves. I pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen.