There are no perfect families. There are no perfect marriages. There are no perfect wives. There are no perfect husbands. There are no perfect parents. There are no perfect moms. There are no perfect dads. There are no perfect children. There are no perfect daughters. There are no perfect sons. There are no perfect siblings. There are no perfect sisters. There are no perfect brothers. For all have sinned and fall short of God's perfect love. Yet, God demonstrated his perfect love for the imperfect, which are all of us, when in our imperfections, our sins, Jesus died for us. We, the imperfect, have become the objects of his perfect grace, his unconditional love, his unmerited kindness, his unlimited forgiveness, and his unearned blessings. This grace has reconciled us to God in a love relationship where he no longer holds our sins, our imperfections, against us. As recipients of such glorious grace, let's now freely release his grace to others in their imperfections, just as God freely released his grace to us in ours. Let's now reach out to those in our families...those whom we have been holding their sins against, their imperfections against...our husbands and wives, our sons and daughters, our dads and moms, and our brothers and sisters, releasing God's grace to them for their imperfections, just as God in Christ has released his grace to us in our imperfections. Let's release to them the same grace God has released to us. Let's release to them unconditional love, unmerited kindness, unlimited forgiveness, and unearned blessings. How do we release this grace to those within our imperfect families? The same way we received God's grace in our personal imperfections, by faith. We make a faith decision to freely give God's grace to family members who have hurt us, abandoned us, abused us, slandered us, or attacked us just as God has freely given grace to us. In releasing grace to one another in our families, we will see the reconciliation and restoration of many families. With whom in your family are you angry? Who has hurt you? Your anger and pain is real. Your anger and pain is legitimate. But you have carried them long enough. They are weighing you down. They are poisoning you. Today is the day to release grace to those with whom you are angry and to those who have caused you much pain. You do not have to carry this pain and anger another day. Let them go. The same grace God has released to you, release to them, and let reconciliation and restoration happen. Ephesians 4:31-5:2 says: Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. The words "forgiving" and "forgive" in the above verses come from the word "Charis" in the original Greek language. Charis is the Greek word for grace. The above verses are telling us to get rid of the poisonous anger inside us by freely giving grace to one another just as God in Christ has freely given us grace. As we do, the aroma of grace flows upward to God as a beautiful fragrance because he knows his grace is bringing healing to our hearts and families. And who needs God's grace? Each of us. Imperfect husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters. We all need God's grace. And when we give God's grace to those in our families who are imperfect, we become imitators of our wonderful heavenly Father who has lavished his perfect grace on his imperfect children. Receive God's grace today for your imperfections. Release God's grace today to those in your family for their imperfections, and let reconciliation and restoration begin. NOTE: For some, reconciliation and restoration may not be possible. Releasing grace does not automatically mean the re-establishment of a relationship with that person. But for most of our relationships that have been severed through pain and anger, the relationship can be restored by grace. |
