Lesson in Grace

If you had asked me 6 months ago what grace was, I could not have told you. If you had asked me a month ago, I could have told you about receiving grace. Right now, God is teaching me a very important lesson about giving grace.
You see, I'm quick to forgive and show grace to those who hurt ME. It's selfish really. I don't like people to be mad at me. So I take the blame or just make the first step and apologize to end the fight, then forgive and forget. It's when someone hurts the people I deeply care about that I struggle. They're not made at me so there's no personal consequence to forgive...but then again there is. There is a spiritual consequence. When I'm angry it leaves the door open for satan and that puts me in spiritual weakness...and weakness can be dangerous. "In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" Eph 4:26
Recently a lot of people that I care about very deeply have been hurt and that made me angry. So I prayed and then I studied to see what God had to say about the matter and then I realized what grace was all about. Grace is when through clenched teeth, you take deep breaths and remind yourself that Christ tells us to love our enemies....yes, love. We need to love and forgive the people who deserve it least, but need it most. The people who are doing the hurting need our love too. Jesus came to seek and save the lost... He died for ALL of our sins and He love ALL of us. If we want to be His disciple, we too must have that same love and compassion for even those who persecute us, those who curse us, and our loved ones. We are to love our enemies. We are to forgive and trust in God and His judgment. Loving those who don't love us back, forgiving those who don't deserve it, seeking those who are lost and don't know it....that's what grace is all about.
Dorothy Day put it best " I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least" (this has become my new favorite reminder)