GRACE - GIVEN AND RECEIVED
19th Dec 2018
I was reading Proverbs in The Message and came across this verse in chapter 16, “Gracious speech is like clover honey - good taste to the soul, quick energy to the body”, and I thought about Christmas! It is a very busy time and we all need grace, especially those in the kitchen producing the festive meal for a large crowd.
However, we need to be givers of grace as well; in what we say and what we do. I have been thinking about the verse above, I want to be one who has “gracious speech” and I love the consequences promised, “good taste to the soul, quick energy to the body” sounds good.
It is sad to recount that at this time of the year there is more discord and domestic disruption than at any other time of the year. You may feel that you are not in this category, however, when family members, who have seen very little of each other gather it can lead to unexpected arguments and upset.
I still have the words ringing in my ears that my mother spoke to me and my sisters when as children we were having a go at each other. “A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grevious words stir up anger.” (Proverbs15:1) These were fluently quoted in the King James Version, strongly applied, and soon lowered the temperature and ended the strife.
Grace is more than what we say, it is our whole attitude and demeanour. We often use 2 Corinthians 9:8 with regard to giving money; it is much bigger than that, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
So let there be an overflowing of grace in all that we do and say over this festive season. Let us enjoy our families and do more than give gifts; and if the pressure is building a little too much remember James 4:6 “But he gives us more grace.”
by Charles Sibthorpe
