A Culture Of Grace

A Culture of Grace

And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. Matthew 6:12

WE PRAY WITH A SPIRIT OF GRACE. After all, grace is the foundation of our relationship with God, the environment of his Kingdom, and the basis of the gospel of redemption. All of our prayers are uttered within a relationship of love and grace, acceptance and mercy, kindness and joy. So when we ask God to forgive our sins, we are in keeping with the Kingdom we live in.

Unfortunately, we often step out of the Kingdom environment by applying judgment, criticism, grudges, and biases toward people around us. We seem comfortable with the incongruity, but if we stop to think about it, we find that we are living, thinking, and praying from divided hearts. We are applying the culture of grace to ourselves and our relationship with God but a culture of unforgiveness to others. That’s not only harmful and stressful on the human soul; it blinds us to the needs God wants us to pray for and makes the prayers we do offer him exercises in hypocrisy. It puts God in the position of responding in grace to those who don’t even recognize the value of it. That’s a problem.

If we pray with a spirit of grace but then harden our hearts to deal with others, we are conflicted and confused. We are trying to merge two incompatible kingdoms in our own hearts, and our prayers of faith cease to flow freely. We wonder why God isn’t responding, while he waits for us to demonstrate to others the same kindness that we want to receive from him. We end up with a very cluttered and obstructed prayer life.

When you pray, continue to ask for forgiveness, but take the mercy you receive and apply it to everyone around you. Your faith is based on God’s grace, and you’ll need to let grace flow so your faith can grow. The forgiveness God gives you and the forgiveness you extend to others—from your heart—are part of the same package, and both make your prayers pleasing to him. Choose a culture of grace in all things and make room for God’s blessings to come in.

He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself.