LOVE DOES, PART 4
Welcome back, sisters! I hope y’all have had a good week so far and have enjoyed getting a little deeper into Bob’s book. We just finished up through chapter 20. Bob’s stories are so captivating and segue beautifully into some truth about our Lord. I really enjoyed chapter 17, Corner Store Economics. I felt like I was standing unnoticed in the corner of the store, peering into this little vignette. I loved the tenderness of the moment, when he learned that shiny pennies are worth two. And Bob’s right that Jesus’ economy — His way of living this life — doesn’t look like the warped thing we’ve made it. In Him, we can be rich in our poverty, we can be strong in our weakness, we become humble to be lifted up, and we lose our life to find it. Not only this, but He extends a grace that no finite mind could have ever dreamed up. His grace  holds everything together and affects us in ways we’re oblivious to. And, we have the privilege to extend grace to others. As we have received grace from our Lord, He works within us to extend grace to those around us…so, we can be a part of changing someone’s world…letting them in on the secret that shiny pennies with us are worth two.
Let’s spend some time soaking in His grace towards us today, and opening our eyes to see it in us and all around us. I have a great book by Paul Zahl entitled, Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life. Here is an excerpt:
“Grace is love that seeks you out when you have nothing to give in return. Grace is love coming at you that has nothing to do with you. Grace is being loved when you are unlovable. It is being loved when you are the opposite of loveable. … Grace is a love that has nothing to do with you, the beloved. It has everything and only to do with the lover. Grace is irrational in the sense that it has nothing to do with weights and measures. It has nothing to do with my intrinsic qualities or so-called ‘gifts’ (whatever they may be). It reflects a decision on the part of the giver, the one who loves, in relation to the receiver, the one who is loved, that negates any qualifications the receiver may personally hold. … Grace is one-way love. The one-way love of grace is the essence of any lasting transformation that takes place in human experience. … One-way love lifts up. One-way love cures. One-way love transforms. It is the change agent of life.“
How is He showing you one-way love today? Who can you show one-way love to today? You never know how He may choose to use it to change a life, or even the world…
