Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:6, NIV)
Does grace strike you as one of those theological terms that describe what God has done for us while lacking practical application? In this way, it might seem like all those Strokes Gained statistics that help us understand how a PGA Tour player excels but which aren’t readily available to the rest of us. Cool, but only as far as it goes.
When it comes to grace, though, Scripture does speak of applications that should fit our lives. In brief, grace is akin to kindness, and we certainly have no reason to be surprised that kindness is something we too can show to others.
So let’s consider a definition, then do the work we have been doing in this series: set grace in the midst of trouble.
In our thoughts and in our words, we are to pass on what is excellent in God’s eyes, and grace is always excellent.In the Greek, the word for grace is charis. It’s a simple enough word that apart from specific theological application can mean “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech” (Blue Letter Bible). You can see the connection in that last phrase to our passage from Colossians today, where Paul urged his readers to fill their conversations with grace. You might also recognize a similarity with Paul’s words in his letter to the Philippians: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). In our thoughts and in our words, we are to pass on what is excellent in God’s eyes, and grace is always excellent.
But now you might guess that we are heading to the golf course, where trouble comes upon us with frequency, just as it does in life. And when trouble comes, we might either lose grace and turn to curt words or express grace beyond all reason, empowered by the Holy Spirit to say uplifting things.
“Freely you have received,” Jesus said, “freely give.” How can we not apply this to grace, which is among the greatest of all God’s gifts to us and which carries all his other gifts as well? Yes, this will be hardest when we are criticized or weary or discouraged. These are only a few of our troubles. But if we can respond with grace rather than lose it, we have gained ground in Jesus’ name.
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Jeff Hopper
August 20, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.