UNFEIGNED LOVE

2 corinthians 6:1-10; PS 98 The Lord has made known his salvation; Matthew 5:38-42

"as fellow workers, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain..."


Do not receive the grace of God in vain.  How does one receive the grace of God in vain.

In fact, it seems almost like an oxymoron to suggest that one could receive the grace of God and not be transformed by it.

How could  this be?  We are talking about the very life of God, when speak of grace and yet it seems it can be ineffective?

Grace requires a response.  God take the initiative every time.  He calls, he shouts, he beckons, he whispers, he lays it at our feet.  Yet, we must respond to his invitation.

We must receive it actively not passively.

We cannot be bystanders or spectators when it comes to grace given.

Then St. Paul goes on to list the circumstance that make grace realized...."endurance, afflictions, hardships, constraints, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts, by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech, in the power of God, with weapons of righteousness, through glory and dishonor, insult and praise, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, poor yet enriching others, having nothing yet possessing all things."


There!  It has been said.  It has been past down.

Whew!  That is a lot of circumstances by which grace operates.  It seems has if grace is in all aspects of life.

When we don't let it be then it becomes vain.


Love is operative at all times, so too is grace.

It meets us where we all; God is where we are at each moment.