The Power of Grace

Matthew 18:21-35

I was recently reminded by a friend how much we are changed by the power of God's grace toward us. You see, Jesus has offered to pay the price for all of our failures. This cost of our failure is not a price we can pay, even if we dedicate our entire lives to try to "pay" for our sins. It is simply a gift! However, it is a gift that changes us from the inside out, if we have truly received it.

Sometimes when someone gives us something we are untrusting of their motives, because we judge their actions on what we might be willing to have done. In the case of Jesus, we might not fully receive His gift of grace because we cannot imagine being set free from a price we could never pay without having to do something for it. After all, if we were God, we would might make others pay a little... don't you think?

In the passage cited above, we read a story that Jesus tells of a man that is forgiven such a huge debt owed to a king that he could never have repaid it even if he worked his entire life to pay his debtor. Upon receiving the pardon from his creditor, he goes about his business. Upon finding a friend that owed him an amount that was indeed payable by comparison proceeds to show no mercy. The account indicates that the first man was left unchanged by the king's grace. Common sense tells us this should not be so!

This story give causes each of us to consider our own lives. Have we been changed by the love of our King Jesus? Are there areas of our lives that we hold unto unforgiveness? If so, I strongly encourage you to consider the amount of grace that has been extended to you by Jesus. His grace is the kind that will change your entire life! Any area of forgiveness that you are struggling in is an area that you need to consider under the light of what you have been forgiven of. You have been given much grace and should also extend that grace to every area of your life.

May God bless you and keep you,

Patrick