Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. Isaiah 30:18
This verse astounds me. The Lord God Almighty LONGS to show me grace. He is waiting and looking for ways to shower goodness and compassion on me. When I let that truth sink in, if I could really grasp it and make it a part of my innermost belief, what an impact that would be on how I conduct my life.
When I understand the grace that God shows me, it so much easier to extend grace to others. Grace, by its very definition, is undeserved. I don’t deserve God’s grace and I need to be gracious freely to others as well. Do we look for ways to be gracious to each other? Life gets busy - sometimes I’m so absorbed just getting through a day and I don’t take time to LOOK. But here’s the deal. I need to. We need to. We need to be actively looking for ways to show grace and compassion towards one another.
Why? Why should this be such a priority? Because we are His disciples and we are to become like Him. He seeks to be gracious to us even in our un-deservedness because that’s who He is. I want to as well because I want to be like Him.
Am I becoming like Jesus? Am I disciplining my heart and mind to LOOK for ways to be gracious? Is that my longing? My goal? I want it to be. It’s not easy, but I want that to be who I am, a reflection of Him and His character.
