2 minute read.
Daily Reading: Job 37:1-39:30 ESV, 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:10 ESV, Psalm 44:9-26 ESV, Proverbs 22:13 ESV
Daily Verse: “For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:15 ESV)
PLEONAZO (4121): “To do, make or be more, i.e. increase; by extens. to superabound. This word, from pleion, or pleon, “more” (greater in quantity), akin to pleon, “to fill,” signifies intransitively, “to superabound,” of grace, Rom 6:1, 2 Cor. 4:15.”[i]
Do more.
Paul understood grace better than most because God forgave him so much. Once a murderer of Christ-followers, meeting Jesus changed Paul’s life completely. Instead of killing people, Paul spent the rest of his life trying to point them to the One who could save them.
Experiencing God’s grace changes your life. God forgives the ugly, embracing you into His arms no matter what your past holds. As you begin to understand, Jesus truly does love you entirely and died for you, knowing the sins you would commit, you become more grace-filled.
Learn from your past mistakes instead of staying stuck in them. Give yourself grace for not always making the right decision. Accepting your life’s good, bad and ugly will help you live more fully. Instead of hiding from the picture in the rear-view mirror, you can take it as something that happened and learn from it.
Give grace.
Lead with grace in all you do, for yourself and others. Follow Jesus’ example. When Christ came to earth, He led with grace—crawling on the cross for our sins, the most loving thing anyone has ever done for us. Jesus lived, died, and came back to life so we could live freely, without condemnation in Him.
Forgiving others for the transgression against us takes work. When I become offended by someone else’s actions, my simple prayer has three words: “Take no offense.” Saying the short sentence helps me refocus my thoughts and invite Jesus into the situation.
And when I struggle to forgive myself, my prayer becomes, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” The power behind the words washes over me and helps me remember all God does for me through His Son.
Not born a person who gives grace naturally; becoming more grace-filled requires intention. Spending daily time with God helps me fill my tanks, enabling me to give more grace to others. And when I falter, God’s grace covers my sin.
In a world where everyone wants to do more, extend more grace. Decide to mimic Jesus, forgive yourself and others, trusting God will take care of the rest.
[i] Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible. Greek Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 513) Thomas Nelson
