Giving Grace

Lately I have been thinking a lot about grace and how important it is to extend it to others. Let's talk about grace. What is it? How do we give grace?

The definition of grace is unmerited favor. Getting something that you do not deserve. That's grace. In Ephesians 2:8 we read "For by grace ye are saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" So God extends grace to all who will accept the gift not because we deserve it but because He loves us and wants to have a relationship with us. He also expects us to extend grace to others. Let's look at some ways we can give grace.

First, with our words. Be kind and gentle when we speak to people.
Proverbs 25:11 - A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. Meaning a timely spoken word is both precious and beautiful. 
Proverbs 16:24 - Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. When people hear kind and encouraging words they feel good in the core of their being and good feelings brings better health.
Ephesians 4:29 - Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Make sure when we talk to people, we are helping and not destroying. 

Secondly, in our actions. Doing kind and helpful things for others is commanded by God. 
Galations 6:10 - As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. When an opportunity presents itself, we are to do good to others and especially to other Christians.
Romans 12:10 - Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; 
Showing kindness and affection and honor to the other person.
Ephesians 4:32 - And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Kindness and forgiveness involves action on our part. The other person can't feel the grace we are extending by being kind and forgiving without us expressing and showing it. 

Thirdly, by forgiving. We have been forgiven by God when we accept his free gift of grace. Therefore, we are also commanded to forgive others when they seek forgiveness.
Luke 17:4 - And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. I like that we are not commanded to forgive someone who is not repentive or sorry. I do think for our own sakes that we should forgive whether they seek forgiveness or not so that we don't become bitter, but clearly that's not commanded.
Matthew 6:14 - For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:  God forgives when we forgive. I believe the above verse still applies in this situation. 
Colossians 3:13 - Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Forbearing means to put up with. In other words accepting flaws and all. 

All of the above mentioned are ways to give grace to others. We may not feel they deserve any of them but that's the point! Grace means getting what you don't deserve. We do not deserve the grace of God yet he offers it to us. It is out of love that His grace is extended to us. If we are  extended such grace then we should also give it. 

Lastly, by witnessing or telling others about Saving Grace. This is also commanded with promises! 
Mark 16:15 - And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. This is Jesus speaking. He told his first disciples to go and preach the gospel. He left us here on this earth to share the good news of his Salvation.
Proverbs 11:30 - The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life: and he that winneth souls is wise. I am pretty sure this is self-explanatory! 
Daniel 12:3 - And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. There's your promise. We will shine brightly like the stars when we turn others to Christ. 
2 Corinthians 5:18 - And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given unto us the ministry of reconciliation;  We have been reconciled to God by Jesus and are now expected to spread to others how to be reconciled to God. It's pretty simple. 

We all want grace given to us so let's make sure we are giving it out to others also. Cut people some slack. Be kind. Be helpful. Forgive. Most importantly tell them of what Jesus did. 

Bible Study Dos and Don'ts

This is not a post intending to get in anyone's business or tell them how to run their lives. It's just some thoughts intended to help. I've had people express to me that they read their bible daily but do not know how to study it. This post is to give some tips in that area. 

First, have a bible with a concordance and glossary in the back. Also, keep a dictionary close by. I also recommend having a bible app program on your phone or computer so that you can look up the meaning of a word in one of the original languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek). Sometimes this is helpful because the English meanings may be different from what Bible writers intended. Also, it is helpful at times to have bible maps to understand where places were. 

Always have a notebook to jot down things you want to remember or look up in the future. This may be good when you do not want to veer or get sidetracked from what you are currently studying but you know you would like to understand better. This way you will not forget to eventually go back and study that subject, too. 

Do not be afraid to underline or circle words and jot down meanings in the margins so you do not have to constantly look that word up when you read the passage. You will not always remember meanings when you come back to a passage in later months. I know that some people do not like to write in their bibles feeling it is sacrilege to do so. I once felt that way when I first was saved and got into going to church. My pastor told me that it wasn't and that I should personalize my bible. It's God's gift to me. My bible is full of underlines, highlighted verses, notes in the margins and sermon titles in the margins from preachers I have heard. The empty pages in the front and back are full of notes to reference when I need to go back and refresh my understanding. 

If you have opportunity or access to commentary books either in book form or via the internet, I recommend you use those also. Be sure it's from a reliable source and one you trust. There are many different doctrines out there and a commentary should line up with yours. Be advised that not every commentary will get every thought or doctrine correct, even the ones you trust. Do not be afraid to check more than one commentary. They are after all, only men who may be wise and intelligent, but are still fallible at times. 

One of the most important things is to understand who is being spoken to, what is being spoken about and how it applies to us when we study. Believe it or not, some things are spoken directly to and are for specific people in the bible and does not always apply directly to us today. While all scripture is given for an example it doesn't necessarily apply dogmatically to every Christian today. 

This girl here is a KJV only girl. Not because I believe all the thee and thou, and eth words are necessary but because I believe it was translated from the correct texts or manuscripts. I believe the bible writers were inspired by God but I do NOT believe the interpreters of the KJV were inspired. I think they were intelligent, scholarly men who were godly men seeking right and praying about it. With that being said, I think we should be very careful about getting caught up in how the order of the books were placed in our bible. They are not in chronological order. Therefore, we must not see "transitions" from one place to another simply by what order the books show up in the bible. For instance, the writings of Paul are placed in the bible according to their length and not according to WHEN he wrote them. Do not make the mistake of thinking Paul said one thing to the Corinthians and then later he moved to say something else to the Galatians and therefore there was a transition in Paul's thinking and sayings. This cannot be so since the book of Galatians was written before the books to the Corinthians. The only way to allow this skewed thinking is if you have decided that the KJV interpreters were inspired and therefore they placed the books in that order to show a progression and transition in Paul's thinking. Do you understand what I am driving at? We can allow our bible study and understanding to be skewed by focusing on what we believe was intended simply because of where a particular book of the bible was placed. This is just one example of getting off in our thinking simply due to where a book is placed in our bibles. 

Do not be afraid to ask someone such as your pastor, pastor's wife, Sunday school teacher, etc. when you have a question. That is really their main jobs! They are to train and instruct you in your knowledge of the bible to help you in your walk with the Lord. 

Above all, do not let the fact that you do not understand a verse or passage in the bible detour you from studying it. There will be those verses and passages. It's ok to set that area aside and decide that you'll understand someday and then move onto another passage. There may be some things that you do not understand this side of heaven but giving up and not trying is not the answer. If you give up, you will not learn and grow at all. If you decided in the first grade that reading was too hard and gave up and refused to try anymore, you'd never have learned to read and understand. It's as simple as that! I firmly believe study is much more important than reading through the bible in a year. I know many people who have read through their bibles year after year but still do not understand most passages because they refuse to study and try to understand. 

I hope these dos and don'ts will help somebody out there.