{ But GOD }

CAUTION: 

Being bold about a couple of "touchy" topics!

I wanted to share this with Y'all a few weeks ago, but kept putting it off. Not that it's something I didn't want to write, it's just that I can be a procrastinator, but now I'm thinking that the delay was because somebody else could use it NOW!

As you know, my favorite word is HOPE, but GRACE has to be a very close second favorite, hence the title of this blog. I was talking with a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago and we were discussing difficult people in our lives and she told me that a co-worker called those type of folks EGR people.....

EXTRA GRACE REQUIRED!

What prompted me to write this now is another conversation I had with someone very special to me. I shared with them that I've always tried to give the benefit of the doubt to people until there isn't any doubt left if you know what I mean!  There's going to be people in our lives who steal and cheat and lie and we need never think that we are too good or immune to those type of men and women. I know we've all had that happen to us.  (and I've been on the giving end of not being the Christian I should be, too) But what I failed to share and so wish I had was that as much benefit of the doubt, as much GRACE  that we show others can never, ever compare to the GRACE that God shows us each and every day. 

We're sinners, Y'all. 

No one likes to admit that, I know. 

And, it's not a word that is even used a lot these days, but why not call it what it is? 

I'm a sinner. 

Do I like typing that, thinking it, saying it out loud? Absolutely not. 

But, it's the truth. 

(and I'm crying as I type this because of the LOVE that JESUS shows to even me every single day)

But GOD!

What beautiful words!

Without His GRACE, I'd be going to hell, Y'all.

(yet another topic that seems to be taboo these days)

So, when we think that we just don't have any more GRACE to offer, picture Jesus on the cross and what He did for you and me.

Yes, I know this sounds "preachy", but I feel that God calls us to be bold about our faith. There are things that I've said and done and failed to say and do that I regret so badly, but GOD! Sometimes just the memory of those things can serve as our punishment for the sin.  But, just as God calls us to show GRACE to others, I feel we need to show it to ourselves sometimes!  

Somebody said of me several years ago that I thought I was superior to others. I have no idea what prompted that statement, but it hurt my heart. My intention is NEVER to hurt anybody because I truly know how that feels. The ONLY "good" inside of me is JESUS, and praise His Holy name for that! But He forgives me daily because of His GRACE and MERCY and for that I'll be forever grateful!