by  Joe Terrell

You may ask, "Why is it so difficult to let Grace be gracious?" My own experience teaches me that it is because I am just not that gracious, and I assume others are somewhat like me. We all cast our god in the likeness of ourselves, and the lack of grace on the part of our gods reveals our own lack of grace. It seems to me that until I have been more tolerant than seems wise, more patient with others than seems good, and more forgiving than uprightness would counsel, I have not even begun to know what it is to live out grace. Let our grace to others be as shocking as God’s grace to us!

This brings me to another point I find delightful: just as our gods are no more gracious than ourselves, the more we learn of our God, the more gracious we become. The Lord said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me…and ye shall find rest to your souls." A yoke binds two together, and according to the law, binds two of the same kind together (what a wondrous thought, the gospel makes me of the same kind as Christ). Two yoked together must, of necessity, walk the same way. As we walk with Christ (which means to live as he did) we learn of him, and thus we find the rest which is given to us. As we learn to relate to others in grace and mercy, we learn by experience how it is that Christ relates to us, and thus the rest which He gave to us is found by us—we experience it. Those who do not experience the rest of the gospel are often found to be judgmental of others. Since they do not deal in mercy and grace with others, they have not learned this aspect of Christ, and therefore, do not find rest.