New Creation Path Devotional-Grace And Peace
Galatians 1:3–5
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (ESV)
What if every encounter we had with any person started like this? Grace to you and peace. From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Just think of the potential for every interaction that follows this mindset.
Grace, unmerited favor, just because you are you, and he or she is he or she. No transactional acceptance. No conditional loyalty. Simply seeing yourself and others as God sees us and is waiting for us.
Peace, or Shalom in Hebrew. A holistic state of wholeness, completeness, and tranquility that stems from a right relationship with God, rather than merely the absence of conflict. Is this possible in today’s world, with all the continual conflict and personal offense among people from all walks of life, in which people appear to be trapped?
How could we not love one another as we love ourselves if we approached each other this way? And better yet, how about we start our day in the quiet of God’s presence, building this mindset, redirecting our hearts toward alignment with the heart of Jesus? It seems to me that this has something to do with “the kingdom of God is at hand” and “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”
One may ask, “What if we don’t know God or don’t care to know God? What if our version of God has nothing to do with Jesus? What then? Why should I approach anyone with this in mind?”
While I’m hoping this message crosses the path of those who don’t know Jesus, I’m actually directing this passage of the Bible to those who say they do know Jesus. The reason I’m directing it to those who say they know Jesus is because that is exactly who Paul is directing it to in this letter to the Galatian people. And it seems to me that for a long, long time, it’s those who say they know Jesus who have come up short and need this reminder, me being one of them at times.
You see, Jesus didn’t give the new commandment “to love one another as I have loved you, they will know you are My disciples if you love one another” to nonbelievers. Yet with all the social, political, theological, doctrinal, and denominational differences in our world today, there may be more lack of peace and grace within the body of Christ than outside of it. And this isn’t new. It has sadly been going on since the time when the powers who ruled the world saw that this Christian movement was not going to die, so they decided to infiltrate it and corrupt it.
Grace means we don’t condemn our fellow brothers and sisters because they sinned in a way we didn’t, that they don’t believe some historical theology that isn’t solidly found in the Bible, or that their personality rubs ours like cheese on a grater. And peace does not mean we confront them out of selfish intention and, more often than not, ignorance.
Let’s walk as Christ called us and modeled for us to walk, loving one another in grace and peace for the world to see and want to join us.
My Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Impart Your love on Your children so that they might pass it on to all those around them, especially those within Your family. Help us all effectively remove the logs from our own eyes to see clearly and identify if there even is a speck of dust in the eye of another that needs our assistance or opinion. Help us to love You with all we are, love one another as You loved us, love our neighbors as we love ourselves, and even love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Thank You for Your grace, mercy, peace, and love. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.