Today Bob Goff talks about my favorite kind of people. People who give grace without needing to make a keynote speech afterwards, and people who receive grace without needing to give an acceptance speech to draw attention to what someone has done for them.
When we need to be seen for what we've done for someone, or for what someone has done for us, we take away from the power of grace. When I think of my life, and the role God's grace has played in it, I see His grace as the fuel that gets me through each day. When I think of what God has provided me on days I didn't expect it, on days when I probably didn't deserve it, on days that felt hopeless just an instant before he dropped a measure of hope on me, when I think of all those things, I wonder if God isn't helping me see grace is what fuels all of our lives. Maybe he also wants me to notice he's not standing at the foot of my bed every night, where and when I reflect on my day, demanding to deliver me a keynote address about all he did for me that day. And, nor is he showing up ready to take an accounting of how much gratitude I'm ready to hand him. It's been my experience God is pretty quiet about the grace he gives. He's also pretty cool with a simple thanks from me for the grace I receive. And when he doesn't get his thanks - well he just keeps on showing up in my life. But you know the biggest thing I've noticed, you know where the keynote comes from, it comes when I turn around and offer grace to someone else after God offers it to me. I watch that grace then get offered to someone else, and before long you see this chain of grace powering the world in a more loving way and direction. When you see that happening, there are unspoken keynote and acceptance speeches that overwhelm the soul. Love is the greatest speech ever I think. It often comes without words. We pride ourselves too much these days on not needing anyone. We're so strong and independent. I think that diminishes our drive to give and receive grace and help. And when we do extend or receive them, because of our need for independence, both can feel so transactional instead of like the true fuel for life - grace - we all too unknowingly need. It's when grace becomes transactional that we can feel like we did or received something extra in life instead of simply giving or receiving what life is all about. Today let's give and receive grace because that's what makes life work. We've tried so many other ways. Can we just try grace.
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Robert "Keith" CartwrightI am a friend of God, a dad, a runner who never wins, but is always searching for beauty in the race. Archives
November 2024
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