Growth in Grace Measured over YEARS …

Eleven years ago, a woman in my church quoted Peacemaking Women to me:

“Tara? People don’t need fixing, they need growing.
And growth is measured in terms of years, not projects.”

What a kind thing to say.
What a gracious way to live.

Six months later, this woman’s sister wrote me an email that was similarly kind:

“Tara? We all struggle. Sometimes we struggle with the same thing over and over again and it seems like we are not making progress. But herein lies the truth: God is at work. His will is to sanctify his children. And nothing can thwart God’s will.

God IS working in us, Tara – because He said He would, and He who began a good work in us will carry it to completion. Let us rejoice that we are HIS! Let’s go through life remembering that His GRACE is toward us. Let’s keep giving that grace to one another.

And all the while, let us constantly remind each other that God’s love for us does not depend on our performance.”

Oh, man. This is the truth.
This is our only hope.

Grace over TIME
Redemptive time.

GROWTH in grace for the long-haul.
Years.
Decades.

How grateful I am to be taught my ordained and lay leaders who understand these truths and live them out through faithful, patient love and care.

They confront me when I am blind to my sin, failures, and weaknesses.
They help me to repent when I inadvertently cause offense.

They keep no record of wrongs; but instead demonstrate how to “forgive just as in Christ we have been forgiven” (one of my pastor’s all-time favorite verses in Colossians).

Oh, how I pray that we will all keep helping each other to think, feel, and believe in line with the Truth of God’s Word—Who God is and all he has done for us in Christ.

Amen & Amen!
And many thanks to my redemptive, kind friends.

Gnite and God bless,
Tara B.

[A re-post from 2006]