One reason why condemnation Ends with Jesus and one reason He only taught condemnation to those who condemned others, was that He understood the completeness of letting go of expectations on individuals. Again if you read the encounters Jesus had with normal folks He Never condemned anyone except the Pharisees, Teachers of the Law and other religious leaders who were basing a relationship with God on following law instead of living by Faith.
“When His parents saw Him, they were astonished. His mother said to Him, ‘Son why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’
‘Why were you searching for me?’ He asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” – Luke 2:48-49
For me a challenge I still face as I grow in Grace is Being Here Now and allowing others the same Freedom. This is in part due to my anger and frustration that I still experience over religiosity and its damaging force.
So what does it look like to grow in this area?
To be Full of Grace, to me, is to be full of Love, Divine Love, and while I don’t think we can ever Love completely like He does I do believe we can Grow in this area for our entire life.
So how do I believe Divine Love manifest itself?
1) Total Acceptance of All no matter where they are from, what they are doing or what they are hiding behind. Remember Jesus called the most religious to repentance but He never said that to the thief on the cross, woman at the well or any of the multitude of “sinners” that He called friends.
2) Total Peace for All no matter what their past was, what their religion was or what reason that had conflict within them. Remember Jesus was a “friend of sinners” and He spent the largest part of His ministry with the Samaritans who were polytheist and not considered worthy to be in “proper societal circles” in the Jewish tradition.
3) Total Love for All no matter what they had done, were doing or continued to do NO ONE was an outcast with Christ or is an outcast with the Father!
The key for me to understanding what I see as Grace has been and continues to be growing in Accepting, offering Peace, giving Love and Understanding to ALL. When I see those that I cant offer this to, it helps me heal as it digs out a root of pain in me.
I hope and pray we all continue to dig out those roots.
BeGraceFull.com