Gospel of Grace

I am "reading" two books right now - Stripped: Uncensored Grace on the Streets of Vegas by Jud Wilhite and The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. I say "reading" because I am listening to an audio version of Manning's book while driving the car.

Both books discuss the nature of grace and the misunderstanding many Christians and non-Christians have about this attribute of God.

The questions are timeless: what does grace really look like? What does it mean to hate the sin but love the sinner? How am I supposed to love those who continue to sin day in and day out with seemingly no regret or remorse?

Jud talks about this in his book...how his view of grace was rocked by a few sentences by C.S. Lewis.

Lewis stated that there is someone each of us loves even though we don't always approve of what they do. There is someone we accept even though we don't like all of their actions.

That someone is me. No...not me, Chris Genders, but each one of us.

We don't always approve of everything we do, but we still love ourselves. We don't always like all of our actions, but we accept ourselves.

If we can extend grace to ourselves who continue to sin day in and day out, we had better extend grace to others. We need to find a way to look past their sins - whether they be sins of intention or sins of ignorance - and extend the love of God to every man, woman, and child who was made in the image of God. After all, this is what God did when he extended his love to us.

1 John 4:7-10
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."