Entitlements kill gratitude. We think, because we exist other people exist for us (they owe us something). Can you see the tangled knot that type of thinking creates? If everybody fell into this trap then who will be doing anything for anybody...the government? One of the tragic results of an entitlement mentality is a severe lack of thankfulness. I'm afraid that we've become a society of ingrates.
We must not take people for granted! Easily said (or typed) but hard to practice. Do we know how much we need one another? This is a two-edged sword for a Christ-follower because we do live to serve one another, but we don't live just to have others serve us.
Hundreds of kindnesses are shown to us everyday and if we don't stop and say a simple, "Thank you" I believe a little part of the pipeline of God's grace gets plugged. Let me try to explain...
The Bible teaches about two general categories of grace operating in the world: uncommon grace and common grace. Uncommon grace is the grace of salvation. It's God's amazing grace that does something to change a person's life forever. This type of grace is secured by God's love through the cross. The gospel is what rescues us from the clutches of Satan; it delivers us front he punishment that our sin deserves. Uncommon grace is uncommon in part because not everyone experiences this grace.
The other type of grace is common grace; it is what touches the entire world every day. This is why it rains on the sinner's crops as well as the saint's. This is why the sun rises every morning and sets every night on the whole world. This grace God shares with the entire world in thousands of ways every day.
Because believers have been dramatically changed by uncommon grace we become conduits of God's common grace. Everybody in the world can show kindness (and by and large they do), but I believe it is those who've been uncommonly grace-touched who have a greater responsibility to be more grace oriented than the rest. No Christian can make it rain, but we can express kindness to those around us. We have an obligation to let God's grace flow through us to others. We can pause and say "Thank you"; we can help a young mother with three preschoolers in tow load her groceries into her minivan; we can take one afternoon a week to visit a shut in.
This is just a reminder to us all to make sure we spill out God's grace to the world. Let's not use being tired or busy as an excuse to miss grace pouring opportunities.
Grace & Peace,
Scott
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