Necessary Grace

"I am not the man I ought to be, I am not the man I wish to be, and I am not the man I hope to be, but by the grace of God, I am not the man I used to be."
John Newton

That quote was on an email sent to me by a fellow MOMYS . Being a mom of any number of children of any age is helpful in understanding grace. I think every mom, at some point, realizes that she is not the mom she wants to be...yet. Children have a tendency to be self-centered and disobedient, requiring much patience and grace on the part of the parent. Being Godly-minded parents, though, it is our job to teach the child that grace is not a license to do wrong or repeat an offending behaviour.

So many times since I have become a mommy, I have seen in action the love that God has for us. When I say to one of my own, "How many times have I told you not to do that?", I can picture God's loving smile as he is thinking of a time when he has told me time after time to do something in His Word, and I struggled to get it right. When one of the girls is throwing a fit, I think of when I cried and cried to God about something that did not work out the way I wanted it to work. He just waited until got quiet and comforted me. That is grace abounding. His grace is perfect. His grace is the ONLY reason that I will one day be admitted into heaven to worship at his feet. God's grace, to me, is not always letting me get off the hook for my sin, but rather showing me through the pain that if I had only obeyed Him the first time, this pain could have been avoided.

'"Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea." (Isaiah 48:18, NKJV)

When my children are grown up enough, they will know for sure that the punishments they endured were given out of love. Because I love my children, I will continue to make sure they know that grace abounds because of the greatest love. In reality, I am not just raising children; I am raising children of God, who will become warriors for the Kingdom. By the grace of God, I will get it right in the end.

"Where Sin Abounded, Grace Did Much More Abound."
— Romans 5:20

**If you would like to know more about God's Amazing Grace, please email me a note and I can share some Good News with you.