Contemplation #103
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
Our lives in Christ become, through God’s gift, the means of grace to others. To be people of God we must be gracious, for God from the beginning reveals himself as the “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God . . .” (Exodus 34:6). So let us ask ourselves how we are to become the administers of grace to others, and we will see that grace gives birth to grace. We are “graced” so we might “grace” others. We inherit the Abrahamic promise of being blessed so we might be a blessing.
Contemplation #104
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
Grace necessitates the death of self. There is nothing self-seeking or self-serving about grace. The nature of being recipients of the gracious gift of God teaches us to think only of others and to forget ourselves. Grace is the action born out of mercy and compassion, the selfless concern for the welfare of others. To contemplate God’s grace, to reflect on what we have received, will lead us away from selfish concerns into giving ourselves for the sake of God to be blessings in the lives of others.
Contemplation #105
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
Peter teaches us that grace has many forms. As we reflect on the grace of God to us, we begin to see how many ways God’s compassion is experienced as a gift and we begin to understand the numerous ways we are to live gracious lives. Mercy, acceptance, forgiveness, kindness, peacemaking, generosity, love, and every good thing is a gift, unearned by us and which others do not have to deserve to receive from us. These are graces, or the many forms of God’s grace. As those being formed into the image of Christ we administer all these.
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
Our lives in Christ become, through God’s gift, the means of grace to others. To be people of God we must be gracious, for God from the beginning reveals himself as the “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God . . .” (Exodus 34:6). So let us ask ourselves how we are to become the administers of grace to others, and we will see that grace gives birth to grace. We are “graced” so we might “grace” others. We inherit the Abrahamic promise of being blessed so we might be a blessing.
Contemplation #104
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
Grace necessitates the death of self. There is nothing self-seeking or self-serving about grace. The nature of being recipients of the gracious gift of God teaches us to think only of others and to forget ourselves. Grace is the action born out of mercy and compassion, the selfless concern for the welfare of others. To contemplate God’s grace, to reflect on what we have received, will lead us away from selfish concerns into giving ourselves for the sake of God to be blessings in the lives of others.
Contemplation #105
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
Peter teaches us that grace has many forms. As we reflect on the grace of God to us, we begin to see how many ways God’s compassion is experienced as a gift and we begin to understand the numerous ways we are to live gracious lives. Mercy, acceptance, forgiveness, kindness, peacemaking, generosity, love, and every good thing is a gift, unearned by us and which others do not have to deserve to receive from us. These are graces, or the many forms of God’s grace. As those being formed into the image of Christ we administer all these.
posted by Greg at 9:50 AM
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