By: Gwen Hitt
Getting What You Don't Deserve
Hebrews 10:21 ". . .Let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith because we have been made free from a guilty conscience."
My four-year old granddaughter was recently stung by a bee, and she could not comprehend why my husband and my daughter had to remove the stinger from her heel. In fact, she was extremely upset with them after it was all over. In her little mind, they had hurt her, and she was not about to forgive them!
Sadly, many of us do the same thing. We choose to hold on to hurts rather than forgiving others as well as ourselves. Unfortunately, the unforgiveness often leads to guilt. We know that we should forgive, but we just can't bring ourselves to do so. However, today's scripture states that we can free ourselves from our guilty conscience because of God's goodness.
At these times, it is so very important for us to understand that the purpose of Jesus' death and resurrection was to free us from our sins--our past. I've often heard JUSTICE, MERCY, and GRACE defined in a very thought-provoking manner.
- JUSTICE - Getting what you deserve
- MERCY - Not getting what you deserve
- GRACE - Getting what you DON'T deserve
My pastor explains it in the following way. If we would rob a bank, being arrested would be considered JUSTICE for our crime. It is what we would deserve. However, if a kind and understanding judge would look at our situation and decide to drop the charges, he would be showing us MERCY. Although we deserved to get arrested, we did not get what we deserved. Finally, if this same judge would enroll us in a wonderful program designed to provide a fresh start for each of our lives, we would be the recipient of his GRACE. We would be getting what we DON'T deserve BECAUSE after all we did rob a bank!!!
With grateful hearts, we should always remember that we have a great and loving God who serves as our Judge.
I challenge you today to offer that SAME GRACE to everyone in your life...EVEN if you feel like they don't deserve it. Only then can you live in peace with a clear conscience.
Dear Lord, I am so grateful to You for the GRACE that You desire to bestow upon me. I know that I don't deserve it, but I thank You for loving me enough to give it to me anyway.
I also thank You Jesus for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
