Two Peas in a Pod

It jumped off the page into my brain, and my heart. When I read the above verse, I noticed something I’d never picked up on before. Paul greeted his readers with God’s grace and peace. As I pondered that, I saw how one dovetails into the other. Like two peas in a pod, they fit together.

When someone unexpectedly does something nice for you — that perhaps you didn’t deserve or expect — your hand flies to your chest as your heart melts. “Gosh, you shouldn’t have.” But your smile shows them you are glad they did.

Grace is often defined as undeserved favor. In fact, it is what the meme that’s my current screen saver states. When we experience God’s grace, peacefulness flows over us. Wow, He loves us enough to grant us His grace, even when we don’t deserve it or haven’t strived to achieve it. Not that we should expect Him to grant us His favor no matter how “good” we’ve been. If we think God owes us favor because of something we did, it wouldn’t be grace, would it?

When you think on God’s grace, does it bring you peace, or does a touch of guilt bubble up into your throat? Friend, nothing we can do can help us earn His grace. Thankfully, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross has broken through our shortcomings so that grace we don’t merit can flow over us.

Just accept it and be at peace. Then, out of gratitude, strive to serve Him better next time.

Dearest God, thank you for your loving grace. Let me not be riddled with guilt, but instead feel your peace, knowing you love me enough to give me second, third, and even seventy times seven chances through your son, my savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Go Deeper ― Ponder about the times God has shown you grace. With that fresh on your heart, go grace someone, even if they don’t expect it.