Devotion for Today “Grace that Transforms” I Corinthians 1:4-7
I had a conversation with a young man in a barber shop this past week. Actually I have to confess it was not a barber shop, it was a hair salon where both men and women go. And this fellow wasn’t a barber, he was a hair stylist. Actually he called himself a coiffure! He was real skinny and had a high, effeminate, squeaky voice, prancing around and the whole time I am sitting there waiting I am thinking and praying to myself, “Oh Lord please don’t let him be the one who cuts my hair!” But then my name was called and “Donald” had me sit down next to him.
I have to admit to my shame that I don’t much like being around people like Donald. But as Donald began snipping at my hair, all of a sudden my heart was filled with compassion for him. He started talking about his work and school and the problems he had at home. The more he talked the more it occurred to me that Donald’s father was virtually non-existent in his life. “Donald, have you ever come into contact with Jesus Christ?” He said, “I’ve thought about it, but those people at the church don’t really want anything to do with me.” I said, “Maybe it’s because they have forgotten that the same grace that saved them out of their sins can save you from yours. And yours is no worse than theirs.”
Then I said, “Donald, let me tell you something. The only man you will ever need to have a relationship with to love you and to accept you as you are is Jesus Christ.”
We didn’t have time to talk about Him any more because he was finishing up and needed to get to another customer. But what I am trying to say to us all today is that the same grace that young man needed is the same grace that was needed to change my heart as well. I’m not saying you have to like what other people do, or go along with what they do. I’m talking about the grace that can transform your heart to change loathing into love. Why? Because Jesus loves them, too.
I know there are a lot of people walking around in this world who have taken on a lifestyle like Donald’s. Do I need to spell it out for you? There were a lot of people in
We read about this grace in I Corinthians 1:4-7: “4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 5that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, 6even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, 7so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
That grace which was given to us once is continually given to us and will be given to us through to the time we go to be with the Lord. If we have received that grace, then we bear the responsibility to applying that grace to see others with the eyes of grace. Grace is that which helps us to show favor (which is what the word grace means) to those whom we would ordinarily show disfavor and disapproval. This is a supernatural quality that we would not possess otherwise. May God’s grace abound in you more and more today.
Have a blessed day!
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