God’s grace is truly amazing! As the psalmist reminds us, “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness” (Psalm 103:8). Our God is merciful to us even in the midst of our sinfulness; He is compassionate and kind. And yet, the apostle Paul warns us against presuming upon God’s kindness. We cannot use God’s grace, his overflowing loving-kindness, as an excuse to continuing sinning. In others words, we cannot simply say that because God’s mercy and grace are everlasting, we can allow sin to remain in our lives. In Romans 6:1, Paul frames the question in this way, “Should we continue to sin that grace may abound?” His response is a resounding “No way!”God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. It is not the threat of punishment or rejection that evokes in us the need to amend our lives, but rather it is God’s overwhelming love and kindness that stirs in our souls a desire to be more like Christ. It is important that we be reminded that the One who is our Judge is also the Lover of our souls. God loves us just the way we are, but loves us too much to leave us that way! God desires our healing. God desires our freedom. God desires our wholeness.
The call to repentance, the call to amend our lives, begins with God’s kindness. It is God’s mercy and grace that gently lead us to acknowledge the sin in our lives and to continue on our journey of personal transformation. Take a moment today to reflect on your experience of God’s kindness in your life. Have you presumed upon the kindness and patience of God? Or have you allowed God’s kindness to lead you to repentance and to abundant life?
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