Reckless GraceChikamu

Coming into Agreement with God

Do you struggle to extend grace and forgiveness? Do you struggle to receive grace and forgiveness? So many believers do. I do too. The truth is, we can’t do anything in our own strength.

• We can’t forgive in our own strength.

• We can’t heal in our own strength.

• We can’t cast out demons in our own strength.

• We can’t even hold onto our faith in our own strength.

So why do we think we have to strive for grace when it’s already been freely given? Thankfully, God loves to use the weakest, most unqualified people to bring about his kingdom in ways only he could be responsible for. If you’re someone who struggles with offense and unforgiveness—for others or for yourself—God is ready to obliterate your disbelief through a fresh release of his radical grace.

Grace manifested in your own life is miraculously uncomplicated. It simply means coming into agreement with God about what he thinks of others and of you. Sounds easy, right? But how do you know if you’re agreeing with God?

Search your heart with these two critical questions:

1. Is there anyone you hold an offense against? Pause and search your heart for a moment. Do you have a “that person” in your life whom you genuinely struggle to extend grace to?

2. Is there anyone God wouldn’t forgive? Do you hold an offense against someone even God wouldn’t hold? Would God forgive “that person”?

Maybe “that person” came to mind immediately. Your jerk coworker. Your ex. That guy who flipped you off in traffic this morning. Maybe even an authority figure or political leader came to mind. Jesus lays it out clearly in the seventh line of the Lord’s Prayer: “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). The assumption here is that you have forgiven. This phrase is the foundation of what it means to come into agreement with God, and it clearly displays the kind of grace he wants you to have.