“Living ‘in the world,’ we can look for natural opportunities to dispense grace — not just words — to those around us.”

A thought by Philip Yancey (2014-10-21) from his book, Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News?  (p. 74). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Consider this… Philip says, “What would it take for church to become known as a place where grace is ‘on tap’? All too often outsiders view us as a kind of elite club of the righteous. An alcoholic friend once made this point by comparing church with AA, which had become for him a substitute church. ‘When I show up late to church, people turn and look at me. Some scowl, some smile a self-satisfied smile — See, that person’s not as responsible as I am. In AA, if I show up late the meeting comes to a halt and everyone jumps up to greet me. They realize that my desperate need for them won out over my desperate need for alcohol.’”

Oh that we would see that and convey that.  The world doesn’t need condemnation, judgment and criticism.  It needs love and it has been given the good news that God loved the world so much that he sent his son as a gift.  That is what love does.  It gives.  People need to see that love is not just words though we sometimes need to hear them and say them but they need to see it is more, it is actions.

Let’s look for ways to show it, not just to those whom we love but also to those whom God loves.  Remember God loves the world.  And that means he loves his enemies. 

Do we?