April 3, 2020
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 Timothy 1:2b
If you were to read through the letters of Paul to the early churches, you’d find that the opening greetings of pretty much all of the letters follows the same form in wording. Paul is always sure to offer greetings along with a wish of grace, mercy, and peace of God to the reader. It’s the first thing he says no matter the subject of the letter. Remember, sometimes the letters were to encourage and sometimes they were to correct but no matter what, Paul always wanted to offer the grace, mercy and peace of God that he had experienced, first.
Well, I wonder if that’s the same approach we have in conversing with others. When we have a criticism, admonition, or encouragement for someone, do we have a desire that they’ll experience the grace, mercy, peace and hope of Christ, or do we just want to say our stuff and move on? What is our initial heart attitude when saying something to someone?
As I said yesterday, we must remember that we, as authentic followers of Christ, carry something with us that others need. Even if we know that someone needs correcting, we should desire to see them become better and not just want to display some “righteous indignation” to them. Let us, before we begin, take a pause, take a breath, and to ourselves, ask the Lord in that moment to help us remember who we once were and even if we don’t actually say the words, offer the grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord, at least in attitude towards them. It’ll make all the difference in the world.
Pray for the chance to speak grace, mercy
and peace into someone’s life – maybe even today.
Pray for:_______________