It's black and white and red!

I've been thinking a lot about grace lately. Do I give as much grace to others as I want them to give me? I want to be graceful and gracious but what does grace lived out look like?

I've spent much of my 40 years thinking that everything is black and white. It is either wrong or it is right. Period. There hasn't been much room in my heart to consider any other view than just my own. My attitude has been a lot of "I am right and you are wrong!"

Sometimes God needs to hit me over the head with a 2 x 4 and that was my Merry Christmas gift today...a small glimpse of how grace works. My friend, Kalene, and I were chatting on facebook this afternoon and she mentioned that things are not always black and white. Ding! If my life were a comic strip (which it closely resembles most of the time...) you would have seen the light bulb above my head light up! Life in Christ isn't black and white...it's black and white and red! The blood of Christ that was shed on the Cross for my sins should be what I see when I see people. If I look through my blood-washed heart I would see red all over my black and white issues. I would see Jesus and Jesus' grace instead of my own self-righteous legalism.

Grace is seeing and responding to people and situations with Jesus' sacrifice for me foremost in my mind. When I see through His redeeming blood, I don't see black and white issues, I see people who need Jesus. I see their needs rather than my own rules. I see their hurts rather than my own self-righteousness. I see their God given abilities rather than my own pride. I see them as hurting people in need of God's love rather than lowly creatures to whom I am superior.

I want to be a gracious and graceful woman. I want to give more grace than I expect to receive. I need to let the grace of Jesus' sacrifice bleed red all over by black and white world!