Bithel

In today's society, we are conditioned towards rewards for even the smallest of actions. As children we are programmed to 'work for treats'; a pre-courser for good behaviour. Sadly, there are some children who are conditioned to believe that the love of a parent is only given as a reward for doing good deeds or specific 'favours'; so when it comes to a loving God whose only desire is to lavish on us, His children, His 'favour' this maybe construed as manipulation, while others will see it as receiving something they do not deserve and yet are unable to walk in the knowledge that grace is given - not for anything we have done or as a reward, but just because God loves us. Likewise, a third category, which is prevalent in many churches, is the idea that because we now live under grace we can keep on sinning by being under the conception we are no longer accountable for our actions. This is a gross misunderstanding of grace and earnestly needs re-dressing. Another category, which makes grace difficult to understand, is when we do not get what we deserve. Sometimes when we have hurt a person so deeply it brings them to tears, the natural reaction of the flesh is to expect that person to retaliate and hurt in return, but, when grace is given, it is disarming. This unexpected reaction forces us to question the motives of a person who would shower good things upon us instead of retaliating. When we come to realise what God has done that for us, through Jesus Christ, the enormity of the outpouring of His grace is so overwhelming that some shrink from this enormity and either mock God's grace or they become so critical because they cannot face the truth of God's great love they hide away in the dark places of wrong doing, of drugs, or drink hoping to deaden the pain of shame, while others are so ashamed they cannot face themselves or the consequences of their in/actions and take their own life. But there are others who, seeing the enormity of their in/actions and are, themselves so overwhelmed by God's grace, that the only reaction they can do is fall to their knees and seek the forgiveness of God through the faith and belief of what Jesus did on the cross and find themselves forgiven and cleansed, able to stand before a righteous God holy and blameless. It is our reactions to grace which truly define us as human beings and, more specifically, as follower of Christ. I spoke, recently, to my Goddaughter about this subject and explained to her that grace is a gift God gives us - for no reason but that He loves us and wants to confirm His love for us by blessing us. I then went on to see if she had a full explanation of what Jesus did on the cross and she knew that Jesus died for our sins, rose again and ascended into heaven, but I felt this was just 'learnt information' so I asked her to put it into her own words and this is what she said; "I know that I upset mummy at times, but this does not stop her from making sure I get up for school, have a clean uniform, food to eat when I come home, so I suppose God's grace is similar. in the sense that because I do things wrong He doesn't stop loving me, but allows the sun to shine, and gives strength to my mummy to do all the things she does for me and my sisters." My Goddaughter is 9 years of age.