Are You Using Grace?

In many Christian circles there are people who "use" grace as an excuse to sin. They want to "rebel" against the law. I realize there is legalism and man made rules everywhere. Every family has them. But at some point, we should look at those rules and see why they are in place. Christians do have liberties, but do we use those liberties at the expense of others? NO! I think not, and I am broken to see that happening. I know I don't have the perfect balance between grace and legalism. Ray has said many times, "We are all a bundle of inconsistencies."

When you have the freedom to do a certain thing that "good" society deems unacceptable, should you do that just because you can? Often our pride rises up and says, "Yes, you should." But without looking at the effects of that freedom, we put ourselves in a self-centered world. When I say that I am going to do something regardless of how it affects anyone else, I am exposing my own sin.

When I think of or engage in certain things that I believe Christians are allowed to do, I have to also think of how those behaviors would affect others if I did them. I'm not talking about blatant sin, but those gray areas in scripture that seem to be out of the norm for our culture. (I know some people are too easily offended, you can't ever please them. Skip that point.)

But, thinking of the most godly older lady I know, how would what I am doing grieve her? Or the newest believer that sees me do something out of the ordinary? Do my actions affect only me? No. Does that mean I can't do those things? No. But I need to be very careful how, when and why I am doing them. I can't "use" God's grace as an excuse to offend or hurt others.