Grace Transforms Us

This is a topic that has peaked my interest as of late. When I knew the topic was Grace, I wanted to look up the definition on the word. There were definitions I was familiar with but one stood out to me.

Grace: do honor or credit to (someone or something) by one's presence.

I have always had a sense of the word grace being that of Christ making up the difference when we cannot do it all but never to honor or give credit. I then began to look up talks on grace and found this analogy that really brought a new perspective to the word grace.

"Grace Transforms Us”

“Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice.

If the child sees Mom’s requirement of practice as being too overbearing (“Gosh, Mom, why do I need to practice? None of the other kids have to practice! I’m just going to be a professional baseball player anyway!”), perhaps it is because he doesn’t yet see with Mom’s eyes. He doesn’t see how much better his life could be if he would choose to live on a higher plane.

In the same way, because Jesus has paid justice, He can now turn to us and say: “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19); “Keep my commandments” (John 14:15). If we see His requirements as being way too much to ask, maybe it is because we do not yet see through Christ’s eyes. We have not yet comprehended what He is trying to make of us."”

 Quote from:

His Grace Is Sufficient By Brad Wilcox

 at Brigham Young University on July 12, 2011. For the full address, visit speeches.byu.edu.

We are given a great opportunity to be on this earth and to live each day so that we can return to our Heavenly Father.  Christ paid our debt in full and in return He asks us to, simply, “Follow Me”. Does He want us to pay the debt of sin back?  No.  Does how we live our lives repay the debt He made?  No.  Living our lives by keeping the commandments, reading our scriptures, saying prayers, helping those around us and doing anything we can to feel the spirit in our lives is just the start of showing Christ and our Heavenly Father our appreciation.  Even though we may not understand along the way, these things are to help us be better and live on a higher plane.

My challenge to you is to find some part of your life that you can give more in showing your appreciation, or giving grace to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for the debt that has been paid.  The simplest first prayer to your Heavenly Father… keeping the commandments… reading the scriptures and finding ways to show our appreciation…

I’m going to be reading about Christ’s life this month and I will report it on the next blog.  Hope to hear from you guys on what you did.  If you don’t want to respond on the post please please please don’t go through an awesome experience without recording it in your journal.