Why are we given grace?
I’ll never forget the acronym that my high school Sunday School teacher told me about Grace
Gods
Riches
At
Christ’s
Expense
I think that’s a good way of thinking about grace, but why do we get it? We were given salvation… grace. We have food and clothing… grace. We have air in our lungs and another day to live… grace. But why? Why are we given grace? Is it just for us to enjoy? No, it’s to bless other people.
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
-Eph 4:7
You are not given grace because you are good, or because you deserve it, or because you do anything of yourself. It is a gift that is totally unearned. And it’s given according to Christ’s gift, the gift of himself, the gift of dying on the cross. He didn’t deserve to die, and we don’t deserve his grace, yet we are offered it nonetheless.
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace
-1Pet 4:10
God’s gift looks different for each person because God’s grace is varied. He helps us all as we have need. Though we all have the same need of salvation, all of our circumstances are different, each one of us is given specifically what we need to do God’s will in our lives, and his will is for us to serve others. We are not given grace simply to serve ourselves or to simply enjoy God’s gifts.
Grace is always about giving, never about selfishly getting. So the question we must ask is “how can I bless others with what God has given to me?”
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good… All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
-1Cor 12:7 & 11
Every person is gifted with abilities that make them unique, and every Christian is intended to be a gift to the church. God gives the gift of people to the church. He doesn’t give a church a spirit of evangelism, he gifts a person as an evangelist and then gives them to a church. He does not gift a church with resources directly, he gives the gift of giving to a person and then gives that person to a church.
We (if you are a Christian) are all gifts to the church. So you must ask the question “do I give more than I take from my church?” If the answer is “no” then you are not living up to God’s intended gift. We are each meant to be a gift, not a burden, to the church.
Ministry is all of our responsibility. Let’s do it together. Not simply receiving blessings and never giving back, not simply showing up and doing nothing, but all working together and growing together. We are the ones, through the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit, who make the church grow!
when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
-Eph 4:16
