The office was littered with people of all walks of life. Chairs began to overcrowd the room as the stream of souls that walked through the doorway anticipating their appointments.

There I was in the middle of the crowd with my head buried in a magazine as I waited for my child to finish with the dentist. A mere few feet beside me on the floor sat a youthful girl about eight or nine years of age. With shiny hair and freckles gracing soft rounds cheeks, her small fingers gripped a doll close to her chest. She closely resembled her mother who sat close to her on a chair.

I listened with amusement as that little girl chattered endlessly to her mother. With a voice that carried through the waiting room, she barely stopped for breath. Her running commentary flowed from one topic to the next with little effort. I was impressed that a child of such a young age had so very much to talk about. Sadly, some of the other patients in the waiting room didn’t find her ramblings as amusing as I apparently did. But it was the posture and response of her mother that kept the girls attention and ramblings going. Her mother listened thoughtfully only interjecting with a question here and there in order to keep her daughters thoughts moving. She seemed patient, kind, and familiar with her daughter’s character for she herself was was animated when she spoke not tiring of the conversation.

What I witnessed was a mother lavishly pouring out grace towards her child. And the presence of these two souls flooded the room. But I am sure that to many who sat in the waiting room, the liveliness of this duo was anything but entertaining. Perhaps in their inner dialogue they were less than gracious having to sit in a crowded room listening to the running dialogue of a young girl.

I am reminded that grace is given as an act of love, and God’s grace is lavishly poured out because of great love- Christ’s love. But love is not a warm fuzzy feeling but an action. So, If God is love… then God is action. It begs to question, would we recognize grace- pure, undeserving, and unmerited favour- when we saw it in action?

Looking at it one way, you could say, “Anything goes. Because of God’s immense generosity and grace, we don’t have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster.” But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (The Message)

The starting point to even understanding the concept of grace within our spiritual journey is to learn to recognize grace when it is given. In order to do this one must come to understand the character of Christ. Christ’s character is laid out so beautifully within the bible so that we may gain wisdom and knowledge when studying the Word. And Christ’s character is fleshed out so beautifully when we surround ourselves with those who crave the perfection of His presence in their lives.

Wisdom lends us the truth that who we choose to spend our time with- those who we call friend- makes a significant impact in how we not only give grace, but receive grace in return.

Father, help my soul to recognize the grace that is poured out unto me so that I may bear witness to love in action. And help me to love, freely offering grace to others, so they may recognize your Spirit fleshing itself out from my heart. In Jesus name, amen.