Sin and Grace
God has brought many wonderful people into our lives. One of them, Amber, from “an examined life“, has written a short but very good post about sin and grace called “Humility and Joy“. This is what she says:
This is a quote from Dr. Liederbach that he uses to keep him in perspective:
You are more sinful than you ever dared believe, but you are more loved than you ever dared to hope.
Don’t we always think the opposite? I frequently think less of my sin or at least avoid understanding the true depths both consciously and unconsciously. However, while I so frequently manage to ignore the depths of my sin, I also fail to fathom the depths of the love of my Savior! At least in my own life, it is only through facing the horrors of my sin that I am able to relish in the love that saved me. This is yet another area I am a Pharisee and blasphemer who denies the power of God’s grace in my life!
Which is better: making less of my sin but not relishing in the love of a savior or truly understanding it and being blown away by His grace?
Yes, the more we understand our sin, the more “blown away” we are by God’s grace. Also, the more we should extend that grace to other sinners. Unfortunately, we don’t always extend God’s grace to others.
Alan,
Wonderful thoughts and points.
I enjoyed your take.
I think when we become aware of the sin in our lives and the condition we are in we cherish grace that much more.
Kinney,
I agree. It seems that Jesus dealt with two types of people: 1) those who recognized their sin and were awed by God’s grace and 2) those who didn’t think they were that bad and didn’t think they needed God’s grace. This last group had a hard time exptending God’s grace to others as well.
-Alan
Alan,
Years ago I heard Dr. Steve Brown (Key Life Ministries) say something similar: “You are worse than you think you are; Relax, God’s grace is bigger than you think it is.”