Ephesians 4:2 - Love Extends Grace.
Ephesians 4:1-3 (NLT) Therefore I, a
prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life
worthy of your calling, for you have been called by
God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient
with each other, making allowance for each
others faults because of your love. 3 Make every
effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit,
binding yourselves together with peace.
COMMENTARY
There Are No Perfect Relationships
If there is any high and low that is
greater than any other, it is the high and low of
relationships. You can experience the high of joy and the
low of disappointment sometimes within minutes
of each other.
When you find yourself struggling with
each others faults, go to God with your
disappointments.
Disappointments come into relationships
because none of us are perfect. We have an idealized
view of love, relationships, and marriage, and
when reality doesnt match up to this picture,
it leaves us disappointed.
We will never have the perfect wedding or
the perfect marriage or the perfect family
because we are imperfect, sinful people. The idea
that two imperfect, sinful people can come
together and have a perfect relationship is
unrealistic. You need to adjust your expectations.
One of the reasons we are often
disappointed in our relationships is because were
asking another human being to meet needs that only
God can meet. Another human being cant
promise you that they will always be with you or
that they wont fail you. Only God can meet
those promises. He tells us in his Word, I will
never leave you nor forsake you (Joshua 1:5
NIV).
When we get to heaven, there will be no
more disappointment or pain. Until then, you can
choose to keep loving. As 1 Corinthians 13:7 says,
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always
hopeful, and endures through every circumstance
(NLT). By Tom Holladay [Daily Devotional by Rick
Warren: https://pastorrick.com/devotional/]
Lasting Love Extends Grace
No relationship will survive without
grace. Youve got to cut people some slack!
Youve got to let things go.
The Bible says, Love patiently accepts
all things (1 Corinthians 13:7 NCV). In the
original Greek, this literally means covered with
a roof. Would you buy a house without a
roof? Of course not. Youd have no protection
from wind and rain. A roof covers and protects
your home.
In the same way, biblical love covers a
relationship and lets some things slide. It doesnt
hold people accountable for every little mistake
they make. You need a roof on your relationship,
because people damage pretty easily, and we need the
kind of love that extends grace.
Why is grace essential to relationships?
Because we are all sinners. If youre
married, you married a sinner - and your spouse did
too! Two imperfect spouses will never make a
perfect marriage. And its the same way in
friendships. No friendship is perfect - because no friend
is perfect! Two imperfect people will never
create a perfect relationship.
The Bible says in Romans 3:10, There
is no one who always does what is right, not
even one (NCV). Nobody gets it right 100
percent of the time. Its never just one
persons fault. We all make mistakes, and theres
always responsibility on both sides. The saying
goes, It takes two to tango. It also takes
two to disagree!
Thats why the Bible says we have to
learn to extend grace to each other. Forgiveness
is a two-way street. We cannot receive what
were unwilling to give to other people.
You build strong relationships by
treating other people the way God treats you. Romans
15:7 says, Accept each other just as Christ
has accepted you (NLT). Accepting others may
look like listening without judging to a friend
or giving space to a tired, grumpy family
member.
When you accept others as they are,
looking past their faults for the sake of love,
thats extending grace. [Daily Devotional by Rick
Warren: https://pastorrick.com/devotional/]
ILLUSTRATION
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient,
bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2
(NLV)
I opened the email and quickly became
irritated. I'd helped organize a program and the sender
wasn't pleased about the way something had been
handled. I agreed that all hadn't gone as smoothly as
I had planned. What ruffled my feathers was
the cranky, snarky tone of the message.
My first reaction was to fire off an
equally rude response. But after taking a few
minutes to calm down, I decided against it. Lord
Jesus, what should I do? How should I respond? I
thought. Extend grace was what I heard in my spirit.
No! I can't do that, I said to myself. But then
I sought guidance from a trusted friend.
"Apologize," she said. I pushed back. She repeated,
"Apologize." I told her I would, but I was still fuming.
I decided to sleep on it.
The next day during my morning devotions,
I came across Ephesians 4:2. Okay, Jesus, I
get it! The Lord confirmed what He had already
told me. This time I obeyed and wrote a gracious
email, apologizing to the sender for the
inconvenience and promised to do better next time.
I was thankful that Jesus spoke to me
again loud and clear. He let me know that it's all
about Him and I'm to represent Jesus well every
day. Sometimes that means being humble and kind -
and extending a little grace, like He has done
for me countless times. Barbranda Lumpkins
Walls
Faith Step: Who or what has gotten under
your skin lately? What would extending grace in
that situation look like to you? [Mornings With
Jesus 2023 Devotional by Guideposts and
Zondervan]
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY
1 Corinthians 13:7 - Love is Lasting.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2020/20200301-1047.html
1 Corinthians 13:7 - Love Always Protects.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2020/20200819-1005.html
Galatians 5:22, 23 - The Fruit of the Spirit.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2022/20220628-0910.html
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
https://abible.com/links/
