“Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful” (Psalm 116:5).
Being “gracious” means being the kind of person who gives other people things they do not deserve. A gracious person shows people unmerited favor (“kindness that they could never earn on their own”). The Lord is the ultimate example of someone who is gracious. He gives graciously time and time and time again. Whenever we act with graciousness toward other people, we are simply reflecting the character of the eternal God. He has always been gracious, and He always will be.
Have you ever noticed that it is easier to expect people to be gracious to you than it is for you to be gracious to other people? For example, imagine that you are going over to your neighbor Tommy’s house, and Tommy’s mom offers cookies to you. They are freshly baked, warm-from-the-oven, chocolate chip cookies. Of course you accept her offer, even though you haven’t done anything special to deserve a warm, fresh cookie. Tommy’s mom sees that you love the cookies, so she graciously packs a bag full of them for you to take home. Wow!
Now, imagine that Tommy comes over to play at your house. It just so happens that today your mom has just finished baking some warm and wonderful, gooey chocolate chip cookies. You glance over at Tommy and realize he is hoping your mom will be gracious and offer him some cookies—some of your family’s cookies! Of all the nerve! And what does your mom do? She places cookies into Tommy’s greedy little hands. What a disaster! You were planning to eat those cookies yourself!
That little story is exaggerated. But you get the point: It can be harder for us to be gracious than it is for us to accept graciousness. We want (we expect!) everyone to be understanding with us when we make mistakes, but we are not as quick to be understanding when others make mistakes. We think of nice things people could do for us, but we do not naturally spend time thinking of nice things we might could do for others. We are human, and we are prone to sin. We will never be able to be perfectly gracious in this life. So, is it worth trying?
Yes! After all, the Lord is perfectly gracious. He has shown grace to you time and time and time again. Remembering how much you have received and how little you deserve can help you remember to be gracious to other people. Has the Lord shown you kindness that you could never have earned? Does His graciousness make you want to be gracious with other people? If so, then be gracious. You will be reflecting, at least in a small way, the great graciousness of the eternal God. And, because He is gracious, He will help you be gracious!
God shows you grace, and you can reflect that grace by being gracious to others.
My response:
» What kind of “unmerited favor” has God shown me?
» Am I gracious with other people?
» How can I reflect to others some of the graciousness God has shown to me?