Giving Grace

Hey there! It’s Bailey again! Sorry for the little delay on writing the next blog post… Life got a little crazy and sped up pretty quickly, and I’m just not getting a chance to breathe. Today I wanted to talk on something that’s very near and dear to my heart: G R A C E.

To start off, I began researching and asking myself what Grace truly meant, and this is the definition I found most enticing…

“Something we do not deserve but

receive in ways that are abundantly freeing.”

Or how about this? Have you ever heard the acronym for G. R. A. C. E. ?

God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.

WOW. I’ve never really thought about it that way. Freeing.

Obviously, grace is very important to all three of us, hints the name Abounded in Grace… But for me, grace was always something that I grew up learning about. I knew the story of God sending His one and only son to die on the cross for our sins, like the back of my hand. I knew that grace meant forgiveness. As I started to think about what I was going to write about these past few weeks, I couldn’t really completely figure it out. However, just this last week, I was asked to speak at the Middle School FCA meeting, and I decided I wanted to share a little of what I spoke about to these students.

It wasn’t until Junior year that the idea of offering grace was truly tested for me. If you know me at all, you know that it’s not often that I get upset. I don’t cry much… I don’t share my feelings very well… and I am 100% a “fixer” when something goes wrong. So last year right around this same time, my life was going pretty good. Soccer season was about to start, my friends were super great, & school was school… but I was surviving it. Then, out of the blue… part of my world seemed to crumble. Have you ever been blindsided with something before? I mean like, running down a hill, pitch-black in the middle of the night out playing a game with your friends, and then BOOM. You hit a rock, flip upside down, and slam onto your back. All the air in your lungs is completely gone, and you’re left wondering just what has happened. One night, I was left to pick up the little pieces of my life that had just shattered. For the following weeks, instead of like a normal person, I skipped past the ideas of ever being sad and immediately began trying to fix something that only time could heal. Forgiving others has always been an easy thing for me… I kinda think that comes with being a “fixer” like myself. In Matthew 6:14-15 it states, “ For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” It is important to note that forgiveness is not a feeling, it is a choice. One night I read, “Choosing forgiveness will mean that you have to go to God on your knees for the power to forgive. It’s choosing not to let thoughts of hatred rule in your heart.”

For me, I hid my problems from others. After the initial shock, if someone had asked me how I was doing, my immediate response was “Great” and “Fine”. However, when I finally took a few steps back a few months later, I realized that I was, in fact, not okay and had not truly forgiven the way I should have. I was letting hatred and bitterness rule in my heart.

Come July, I was headed back to Quito, Ecuador for my 7th mission trip.

And this year… low and behold… the theme was Grace. Throughout the whole week, I learned far more about Grace than I could ever imagine. It was like God was hitting me in the face with truth that hit a little deeper home than ever before. I came back from this trip with a new heart… One that was re-energized. One that was ready to truly let go of the hurting that had been occurring for months. One that was ready to love itself again. See, after many months of pushing the sadness and the anger away and hiding my feelings, I lost myself. I lost part of the joy I used to have. However, I can’t even begin to describe the freedom I felt once I truly forgave.

Forgiveness is something that should occur on a daily basis… Think about it, how many times have your parents “failed” you or your sibling or Your friends? The list goes on and on… Now think of the reverse! How many times have you failed your parents or your siblings or your friends? We live in a sinful world where people are going to mess up and hurt you daily. & It is crucial to remember the importance of forgiving others. Ephesians 4:31-32 says, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”. Our God did not have to forgive us. He didn’t have to send His ONLY son for us. But he chose to. He chose to send His son, so that we may be forgiven and we may have eternal life.

God calls us to forgive others, just as He forgave us. & Yes, that means you have to forgive your brother for calling you a rude name or your mom that was having a bad morning and snapped at you in the car or that friend that betrays their trust. What’s crazy about the whole situation I went through was that once I stopped trying to pick up those broken and shattered pieces of my life by myself and gave the situation to God, He was able to flip the whole thing around. Once I admitted that I wasn’t okay and that I was struggling to forgive, He was able to change my heart. That day that I truly forgave, there was a weight that was lifted off of my shoulders. For months, I carried a burden of bitterness and hatred that was weighing me down and stripping me of joy. That burden was literally doing nothing but hurting me… However, I knew I no longer wanted to live that way. And today, I am here to challenge you to two things.

1. When reading this, if you had someone come to mind that you feel that you need to forgive… I want you to just do it. There is freedom in forgiveness!! And I promise you, although it may not be easy to do and it may take time, you will be renewed. That burden you are carrying is just hurting you, and it isn’t necessary.

2. If you feel you need to ask for forgiveness from something you may have done or said to someone else, DO IT. I know doing this isn’t the easiest thing and can sometimes be embarrassing, but I promise you, it will be so worth it. For one, it will make you feel so much better and two, it will mean more to that person that I can even explain.

Thank you for reading this, and thank you for letting me share a little piece of my heart with you all every few weeks. It is amazing what God can do through a little bit of heartbreak and pain.

I’ll end with this, the quote I so dearly clinged to for the past several months…

“It is overwhelming not to know how all this brokenness will be mended, but may you be all the more overwhelmed by just how loved you are, and how wonderful it is that God is completely in control of the healing and restoration you soul so desperately needs.” -Morgan Harper Nichols