What comes to mind when people say, “Show grace like Jesus”? As we all know, God is gracious to us. Grace is something we do not earn but receive freely. We receive salvation through His grace (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Let me take you to one of my favorite chapters in the New Testament, John 8. It talks about how the religious law teachers and the Pharisees presented an adulteress before Jesus, expecting that He would ask them to stone her to death. However, Jesus did no such thing. He asked the people to throw a stone at her if they had never sinned before. Unsurprisingly, all the people left. Then Jesus told her to go and sin no more.
This incident shows that Jesus forgave her sin, showed her mercy, and extended grace. Similarly, what if someone has sinned and wants to come back to God? Will you be like the Pharisees or the religious law teachers who condemn that person, or will you be like Jesus, showing mercy, forgiveness, and grace?
When Philippians 2:5 asks us to be more like Christ, doesn’t that mean having similar character traits like Jesus? Loving like Jesus, serving like Jesus, forgiving like Jesus, and showing grace like Jesus? I mean, it is difficult to be exactly like Jesus. We fail a lot, not just sometimes but many times. However, even if we fail, we should try again and again until we die.
I remember one specific event in my childhood when I failed to show grace to a sister who loved and taught me about Jesus. She was 10-12 years older than me, and she ran away with a boy who didn’t know Jesus. They ended up getting married and having babies. She grew up Christian, knew about Jesus Christ, but made a decision that hurt a lot of people who raised and cared for her. After a couple of years, she came back with her baby to church. That day, I came early to church and was sitting on the ground waiting for the sermon to start. She sat next to me, patted my head, and asked me how I was—just the normal conversation. I got up from the ground, didn’t utter a word, and ignored her as if she were invisible. I behaved like the Pharisees; I acted like I was righteous, as if I had never sinned before.
We tend to judge people’s sins and compare them to our own. For example, Mr. A has stolen, and I have only lied, so I am better than him, more righteous than him. We forget that every sin is equal in God’s eyes. This is one of my failures in not showing grace. If I started writing about it, it would fill thousands of books.
We should all remember that we can make mistakes and take wrong decisions in our lives. It is essential to show grace and love to people despite their mistakes. We are not identified by our mistakes; we are identified as children of the High King. There are many people who have strayed from God because the people in their church failed to show grace. While I understand that holding others accountable is equally important, so is showing grace to people.
My final question: What type of person would you like to be—someone who shows grace to people and leads them to God, or someone who is only judgmental and pushes people away from God?
Thank you for reading my blog. Jesus loves you.
