On the way to my church’s corporate prayer, I had a moment with God. I was reflecting on His character. I thought about how sometimes He is strict with me, removing things that could become potential idols or sources of pride. I jokingly laughed and said, “Man, I can’t do anything anymore without You taking it away.”
But then I was stopped in my tracks.
Because God replied, “I show you grace.”
In tears, I thought about my own sins that He has not forcibly taken away. Instead of exposing me to the world or cutting me off forever, He is showing me mercy and giving me time to get my life together and repent.
There are some sins that are serious strongholds, while others I have exaggerated as severe. I made excuses for them, crying out to the Lord that “giving them up is hard,” as if God’s power does not live within me. The truth is, part of me knows it’s wrong, yet I genuinely do not want to give it up. It’s a source of comfort or familiarity, but regardless, it is still wrong.
We often get mad at God when He does reprimand us and allows us to finally reap the sinful things we’ve been sowing for years. We also forget the decades when God was gentle with us, letting our sins remain hidden or unchecked. It was during those years that He was convicting us through His kindness rather than through His mighty hand.
Yes, God is strict, but He is also very patient.
He understands the psychology of every single person on Earth because He is our creator. He knows how deception took root and what caused it to spread. He is aware of our points of pride, fear, lovelessness, envy, addictions, and more. He knows when the seed of these issues was planted and how our mind processed it.
In His judgment, He weighs everything (Proverbs 21:2). However, through His love, He also demonstrates compassion (Psalm 86:15). This is why we do not receive His wrath immediately.
Sometimes, I take God’s grace for granted. He does not grant me grace so that I can continue sinning. In fact, it is through His grace that I am empowered to overcome sin. His grace includes the promise that if we bring our sins to the light and confess them, He is faithful to cleanse us (1 John 1:19). We now share the same righteousness as Christ. God has given us the same power to die to sin that Christ demonstrated (Romans 6).
There comes a time when I must accept that, while God grants me mercy, avoiding obedience only leads to its abuse rather than to its honoring.
It’s funny because I was recently having a conversation about King Solomon. You see, I am in my Ecclesiastes era.
“Everything is meaningless”.
Some scholars believe Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon, while others argue it was written about him. Thus, it serves as a retrospective of Solomon’s behavior rather than a reflection of his own life lessons.
As I study Solomon’s life, it’s clear that he was disobedient. He disregarded the laws outlined for kings in Deuteronomy 17, allowing his God-given wisdom to lead him to prioritize his own desires over obedience to the Lord. While God showed grace to the kingdom because of King David, He did not let King Solomon go unpunished either, as indicated in 1 Kings 11:9-13. King Solomon’s story does not end like a fairy tale.
Ecclesiastes finishes with a simple quote that is a key to how we honor God’s grace towards us:
“Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13 NIV
Fear God:
In this context, I reflect on the concept of repentance, which involves changing our minds and turning away from wrongdoing. Repentance is not merely about asking for forgiveness and then repeating the same offense. It also doesn’t mean to seek compromises while remaining close to the sin. When God convicts us of something, He desires that we let it go completely.
Each day, God’s mercies are renewed. Every morning, He provides us with another opportunity to walk in the righteousness that He has purchased for us. Through His Spirit, we no longer need to spend our entire lives learning lessons as the Israelites did in the Old Testament; all it takes is to submit to Jesus.
In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
1 John 5:3 NIV
Keep His Commandments
Another commandment that honors God is to show grace to others (to love one another).
I brought up Solomon not to condemn him, but to reflect on his mistakes as a way to examine my own heart. The truth is that no one is immune to temptation. The things we criticize in others could easily become our own story if we stray from God’s commandments, too.
However, grace isn’t the absence of truth. It isn’t about compromising God’s commandments to be nice. King Solomon was held to a higher standard, so I am not “letting go of his neck” lol. Meaning I have to state the truth about his life. However, I will do it gently rather than condemn him to hell. There is no condemnation in Christ.
But as I learn to love others better I have to ask myself some questions:
Is God impatient and rude to me?
No. God practices forbearance even though we provoke Him to anger over and over again (2 Peter 3:9).
Does God dishonor me?
No. Instead, even while we were still sinners, He died for us and chose us as a royal priesthood in Christ (Romans 5:8).
Does God give the final judgment based on my mistakes now, or the righteousness and perfection I am achieving by abiding in Christ?
The fact that I am still breathing answers that question.
So why don’t I give others this same treatment?
Actually, let me take it a step further. Why don’t we give others the same treatment? (yep, I am talking to you lol)
I get it. It’s hard. People be people-ing. But we too are people (yes, I know that wasn’t grammatically correct. I did that on purpose lol).
We complain about people being rude or disobedient to God, yet we have the ability to act in the same manner an hour later. Often, we don’t even recognize our own actions or try to justify our behavior. We aren’t as self-aware as we think. But the one thing we can be aware of is that we ALL have fallen short of the glory of God. That’s why we all need a Savior.
I thank God that His mercies are new every morning, and I pray He helps me show mercy to those around me.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Colossians 3:12-14 NIV
