May I Be A Gift Of His Grace

“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

—Matthew 9:13

 

Jesus had just been asked by the Pharisees why he was eating with tax collectors and sinners. He told them that it was because healthy people don’t need a doctor; sick people do. And then Jesus told them to learn the meaning of this Scripture: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” 

 

God’s Word is for us. We also are to show love and mercy. This scripture is initially found in Hosea 6:6. Hosea demonstrated love and mercy toward his wife, Gomer, who was a prostitute. God demonstrates His love for us that while we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us. The love of God is what Jesus explained to the Pharisees. He did not come to call the righteous, but those who are sinners. The righteous have already received mercy. But the sinner hasn’t. 

Dying for us was not a sacrifice to Jesus. To Him, it was an offering of mercy, forgiveness, compassion, and unconditional love. He never gave Himself for recognition. He gave us unearned and undeserving grace. When someone regards what they do for someone else as a sacrifice, they have revealed that their concern is about themselves. When we seek to show others that we have sacrificed, we seek recognition. And that is pride. Jesus’ gift of His life was never about Him. It was all about us. 

 

Do we have the same attitude as Christ? Do we love and shower grace on believers and unbelievers alike, or do we withhold mercy? 

Mercy says: "I forgive and care for you because Jesus loves you unconditionally." Sacrifice says:”I forgive and care for you because it is required." 

Loving should always be a gift—never a requirement. If keeping the law makes us righteous, then Jesus’ gift of His life was in vain (Galatians 2:21). It is a sacrifice to do something for someone when it is required. It is mercy when it freely flows from unconditional love.

 

“If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,” Paul writes, “but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (I Corinthians 13:3-7, NLT).

 

This is God’s love for us. It is pure grace. It is kind and patient. His love always rejoices with the truth. It always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres.

 

“In your relationships with one another,” Paul writes, “have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:5-8, NLT).

 

“Show mercy,” Jesus said. “Don’t offer sacrifice.” 

 

Sacrifice places the focus on us, and that is prideful. Mercy is full of humility. It places our focus on Jesus. Humility does not focus on “self” and what it achieves. It surrenders to Christ’s grace on Calvary. It places the well-being of others ahead of its own.

When we understand that humility doesn’t exalt itself and doesn’t have to earn what has already been earned in Christ, we receive more grace to empower our lives.

 

“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’” (James 4:6).

God gives more grace when we choose to have an attitude toward others like Christ had toward us. 

May I always be a good steward of His manifold grace. May His love just overflow in me. May my gift never be a sacrifice but an offering of His mercy, forgiveness, compassion, and love. Each day may I be a gift of His grace.