Today's
Scripture Reading (May 2, 2021): 2 Timothy 2
Motivational speaker and author,
Jim George, argues that "Forgiveness
is most Christlike when it is given to the undeserving." Too often, the
first question we encounter when someone apologizes is to ask ourselves if they
deserve to be forgiven? Are they sorry enough? Has enough time passed to ensure
that the apology is sincere? We often forget that there have been times in our
life when we have stood in the place of the one who needed to receive forgiveness.
Or, maybe, we remember the discomfort of those moments too well, and we want to
make sure that the one we need to forgive feels that kind of discomfort. In our
forgiveness, grace is often the last thing about which we think.
But
grace is central to every act of forgiveness. And while God is the original
author of grace, as Christians, we are both the recipients of grace and the
ones who are commanded to give grace away. Jim George is right, in those
moments when we give the grace we have received away to someone else, those times
when we forgive even though we are not convinced that our forgiveness is
deserved, it is then that we are reflecting the actions of Christ; then we are "Christlike."
Paul
urges Timothy to "be
strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." We are strong in grace because we know what it is like to be
on the receiving end of grace. We know the strength of understanding that we
have received God's forgiveness even though we didn't deserve it. We have never
worked hard enough to do good or stand sorry enough for our sins to get God to
relent and grudgingly give us his forgiveness. The reality of God's grace is that
"God demonstrates his own love for us
in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for
us (Romans 5:8). We didn't deserve God's grace, but he gave it to us anyway.
We
sometimes forget that while we have received God's grace, we are also responsible
for dispensing that grace and undeserved forgiveness to those around us. Many
people in this world will never hear God's voice saying, "I forgive you.
Receive my forgiveness and my grace." But they will listen to us, either
forgive or condemn them and believe that however we treat them is an outgrowth
of our beliefs and faith. If we serve a grace-giving God, then we will be a
grace-giving community.
Nothing
makes us stronger than knowing that we are the people of God, forgiven because
God decided to forgive us and not because we have earned that forgiveness. And Paul
asserts that God's grace is all that we need to face the circumstances of life.
"My [God's] grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). But in his instructions to Timothy,
he takes it a step further. Not only is God's grace enough for Timothy, but
Timothy's reflection of that grace is what Timothy's world needs. And it is
what our world needs. Paul's instruction to "be
strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" means that Timothy,
as well as us, are to go and reflect Christ's grace to our world, knowing that
we stand strong in the grace of Christ.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 3
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