----St Peter
Peter, leaving his discussion of the world’s end, left for his readers an unfailing recipe for life---grow in grace. Here’s the thing, grace is the unmerited favor of God. The scripture says, “for by grace are ye saved through faith, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Therefore, we receive salvation as an act of grace. That is, salvation is not earned by practicing certain behaviors or by believing certain doctrines or going to a certain church. Grace is a gift given by God to men who did nothing to earn it. If grace is a gift from God, then don’t we simply possess the amount of grace God gave? But, if we can’t grow grace, why would the Holy Spirit tell us to grow in grace?
Let’s tackle the first question. The answer is relatively simple. We possess the measure of grace that God has given to us as an individual. “According as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” This measure of faith is the grace that will lead each Christian to his rightful place in the body of Christ. We can do less, but we cannot no more than God gives us grace to do. Paul, plagued by an unspecified thorn in the flesh, prayed for relief. The answer to Paul’s prayers was, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Evidently the measure of grace God gave Paul was enough for his situation, no more was coming even though Paul thought it might be necessary.
We cannot get, nor do we need more grace. The scripture urges us to grow in grace because we need to understand and appreciate the magnitude of the gift we have already been given. To grow in grace is to spend our life discovering that God’s grace really is sufficient. His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, including grace for every situation. But, let’s face facts, many times we are anything but gracious. Growing in grace is learning to tap into His grace in every situation. This is especially true in difficult times.
It’s easy to blame our lack of graciousness on stress, fatigue, or other people’s behavior. The truth is we have done nothing but turn our back on God’s invitation to grow in grace. I realize that little gem of truth doesn’t make it any easier to be gracious to obnoxious people. Who ever said being godly was easy? An equally hard truth is that practice makes perfect. Meaning that God wants us to be gracious and will send us as many tests as it takes for us to achieve it. The upside (yes, there is an upside) is that knowing this is half the battle. Practice grace. Bless when you’d rather curse; help when you’d rather watch a fool flounder; pray for those you’d rather have as prey. In other words treat people like you’d like to be treated--say, haven’t we all heard that somewhere before?
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