Take a deep breath… It’s the atmosphere you live in. You can’t survive more than a few minutes without oxygen.
What is the atmosphere of our church? Is it an atmosphere of performance… or is it an atmosphere saturated with the pure, life-giving oxygen of **grace**? Because let’s be brutally honest: if it isn’t grace, it will eventually suffocate and die.
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 (ESV)
Devotional
Listen to me, church. Grace is not an optional add-on for the Christian life. It is the very fuel we run on. But we have a huge problem. We love receiving grace, but we are terrible at giving it… We want God to cancel our immeasurable debt, but we keep a detailed spreadsheet of the small debts others owe us.
That is not the Gospel. That is hypocrisy.
Practicing grace daily is extreme Christianity. It is a conscious, moment-by-moment choice… It’s choosing to be tenderhearted when your heart has been hardened by an offense… Grace is a practice. It’s a spiritual muscle that grows stronger every time you choose to use it, especially when it’s hard.
When a world that is built on earning, striving, and score-keeping sees a family of believers that operates on the currency of grace, they see something supernatural. They see a living, breathing picture of the Gospel. They see a community that breathes a different air.
Additional Scripture for Meditation
- Hebrews 4:16 (ESV): “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
- 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV): “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”
- 1 Peter 4:10 (ESV): “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
Reflection
- 1. Gut Check: In the last week, have you been more of a “grace-receiver” or a “grace-giver”? In what situations do you find it hardest to extend grace to others in the church?
- 2. Think of one specific relationship in your life right now that is starving for the oxygen of grace. What would it look like to consciously breathe grace into that situation?
- 3. How does understanding that you are a “steward of God’s varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10) change your perspective from “Do they deserve it?” to “How can I share what I’ve been given?”
Practical Application
- Identify the Debt: In your prayer time, ask God to show you one person you are holding a “debt” against. Verbally release that person to God and declare your choice to extend grace, just as He has extended it to you.
- Be the First to Move: Is there a tense relationship where you’re waiting for the other person to make the first move? Be the one to practice grace first. Offer a kind word, a text, or a simple apology for your part in the conflict.
- Go on a Grace Mission: Actively look for someone who has made a mistake—someone who is likely expecting judgment or criticism—and intentionally offer them encouragement and support instead.
Prayer
Father, thank You for the ocean of grace You have poured out on me, a sinner who deserved none of it. Forgive me for hoarding the grace that You so freely gave… Lord, make me a conduit of Your grace. Help me to practice it daily, to breathe it into my relationships, and to make it the very atmosphere of our church. Let the world see how we love and forgive one another and know that it is only possible because of You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.