December 15, 2014 2 Peter 3:18 Grow in Grace....

2 Peter 3:18

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To Him be glory both now and forever!  Amen.

Grow in grace and knowledge. 

Grace and knowledge.....

In today's world, it seems that so much emphasis is placed on knowledge....the highest academic degrees, the most literary books read, the largest words and trivia of all kinds.  Knowledge, it has been said, is power.  To know is to have the power over someone else or many someone elses.  With knowledge, we can use it to change lives and extend God's Kingdom or we can use for evil.  We withhold knowledge to try to keep others to be less powerful.  We dole out knowledge almost as secrets to be traded....to the highest bidder, of course, whether the price be paid in the currency of money or esteem.  We seek it so that we might be known greater than maybe we truly are. 

Peter tells us to grow in grace and knowledge.  Not just knowledge but also grace.  We are familiar with the phrase, "We are saved by the grace of God."  He has been merciful to our sinful and nature.  Through our faith in Him, He extends to us eternal life.  Yet, Paul tells us to grow in grace.  Ourselves.  He encourages us to learn to extend to others a parallel of the grace that we have found in our Heavenly Father.  We are to extend lovingkindness, sweetness, humbleness, goodwill and favor to those whom we daily interact.  We are to love others beyond measure, as He has ourselves.  We are to extend goodwill and be the peacemakers.  We are to be set apart from this world....and this alone will set us far apart.

And this is a choice.  We must choose to forgive those that have wronged us....just as He forgave us.  Only not "just as" but we must remember that the comparison of our forgiveness to others and His forgiveness to ourselves is like comparing a drop of mist to the magnificent ocean.  We grow in grace when we find that we can extend lovingkindness to those that we truly wish not to....and when that extension has no association to their response.   We grow in grace when we choose to encourage and love those that we are "in worldly competition" for positions and titles...for we hold the greatest Title of all... God's.   We grow in grace with we realize that the purpose of all of this is not about ourselves or what we might earn in this world but rather about what we might extend in humbleness to our felllow man.  It is quite possible that the reason why we are "competing" for the position with another person is so that He might be introduced to the One True God.  It is quite possible that the conflict that exists between ourselves and others is so that our spiritual differences can be brought to light and through ourselves they find the Truth.  Every, every interaction, relationship and moment in time is when we must love with grace...so that they might know Him.

There are so many things in this world that will compete for our actions.  To grow in grace might actually fall in the category of "self-improvement" but how many books do we see dedicated to growing in grace.  Every year millions make New Year's resolutions, how many will resolve to grow in grace.  We will spend our time and energy growing the strength of our physical bodies, growing our contacts, growing our position amongst others and the list goes on and on.  But will we spend our time growing in grace?  For to grow in grace, may not offer any worldly accolades...in fact, quite possibly the opposite.  We will be seen to be weak, to be walked upon, to be cowards and naive.  There are those that will advise us to stand up for ourselves...to honor our name, to demand respect of our position, to be a man or woman.  And our flesh will agree with them.  Our flesh will be preparing for battle..preparing to defend ourselves.  But in our spirit, there will be a calmness.  A gentleness that comes from the One Who simply is.....and as we turn towards Him, we will find that the issues skewed in this world will begin to dim and, if we allow ourselves to linger in His Truth, we gather the strength to offer grace...time after time.

We find that to offer grace doesn't mean that we are weak....but rather we are stronger than we ever imagined...and we find peace from the complexities of this world.   The lyrics to a song...."Oh the wonderful cross, oh the wonderful cross bids me come and die and find that I can truly live."  I have found that so much to be true...as I slowly release the trappings of this world..sometimes literally prying my fingers from their grip...upon release, I find myself no longer hostage to them....I find myself free. And while there may be battles that I have forgone the victories here on this earth let there never be souls that I have dismissed.