The Flow of Grace

Another incredible teaching we heard this week was about grace.  What’s funny is as soon as I think I really get something, God shows me all over again something brand new that I’ve never thought of before.  So it is with grace.  We think we get it, because we hear about it so often in church.  We hear the word over and over, but somehow it doesn’t seem to seep into our minds and hearts.  As we read scripture upon scripture, a pattern became clear: God doesn’t want us to store up grace just for ourselves, it is something to pass on.

The early church was an excellent example of this.  During the time of Paul’s ministry there was a great famine in Judea.  The church at Macedonia heard about it and rushed to send aid to the people there.  In 2 Corinthians 8:1-4 it says, “And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.  Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.  For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.  Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.”  It’s clear that the Macedonian believers didn’t have much to begin with, but what they had they gave freely for those who were experiencing even greater trials than they were.  This kind of giving comes from an overflow of grace from God alone. 

The outcome of allowing grace to flow from you is praise.  Second Corinthians 9:12-13 says, “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.  Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.”  Our natural response to this kind of grace is thanksgiving to God, and this is exactly the picture we see of the early church.

This left me to wonder how I allow grace to flow from me.  God pours out abundant blessings in my life.  Do I hoard them for my own gain, or do I give with open hands and a loving heart?  This question stings my heart sometimes because I can’t always give the answer I want to.  Many times I gather up blessings for myself with tight fists.  But what I’ve realized is that when I do that, the blessings dry up in my hands.  Real joy come from allowing others to experience the richness of God grace the same way I have.

This is a truth the church today can’t afford to miss.  The analogy given was one of a heart pumping blood.  In order to be alive the body must have a constant flow of blood.  If the heart decided to hold onto that blood, the body wouldn’t have love to live.  The same is true for the church.  Galatians 5:6 tells us that, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”  When we allow grace to flow freely through us to others we are giving the ultimate expression of our faith by loving others.  And as we do this we will experience continued blessings from the Lord.