Living Life With Grace.

I don’t like to get caught up in political stuff on social media.
I tend to keep my opinions to myself and not entangled in futile arguments online.

But I did follow a story with interest this week…..
There is a prominent Pastor in the USA who was speaking at a Men’s Conference and was asked what he thought when he heard the name of a ceratin Woman Bible Teacher.
He responded to the question saying, “Go home!”

“There is no case that can be made biblically for a woman preacher – period, paragraph, end of discussion,” the preacher added to roaring applause.

Whether you agree with him or not, I believe you should never put another person down in public, despite what you may believe about them.

I personally believe his words were wrong, and his opinion should have been kept to himself.
The point of me telling you all this is to not berate the Pastor but to show you what the woman’s response was.

She said:

“You don’t have to let me serve you. That gets to be your choice. Whether or not I serve Jesus is not up to you.”

WOW!
I love her response!
She could have fought back.
She could have defended herself.
She could have retaliated with words she may have regretted later.
But she did none of that. She responded with grace.
Oh, how I wish I could be a woman of grace like her!

The position I hold at Church leaves me wide open to all sorts of criticism, judgment and the throwing around of people’s opinions.
Thankfully not as publicly as with the woman above, (well not as far as I know!) but the critics are still out there sharing their thoughts to anyone who will listen.

I have to admit, I don’t always handle this well. I don’t always let my feelings known publicly, but in my head, I have 1000 things to say in retaliation to these people, and my heart is not always as pure as it could be!

But when I read this woman’s response, I was in awe of her grace.
I am called to serve God, not man. I know I will not always get things right, gosh, none of us will, but at the end of the day I will not stand before man to be judged, I will stand before my maker and be held accountable for all He gave me, and what I did with it!

How easy is it for us to get caught up with our emotions and the opinions of others? And how easy is it to retaliate against others in our own defense? For me, it is way too easy!

But you know what? This is not a new problem!  David writes about this very thing! All those thousands of years ago, and he is dealing with the exact same problem! Psalm 17 has really spoken to my heart me this week, and I have been meditating on it a lot. I love that God knows what we need and when we need it. He always (always) has an answer for us in His word.

So this week, I am keeping my eyes on Him and what He has called me to do. I am allowing the opinions and criticism of others to fall away and I’m keeping my eyes on the prize…..standing before the great I Am and hearing the words “Well done good and faithful servant”