“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
“Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
-1 Peter 3:10-1, NASB
God gives his people grace, not so that they’ll hoard it—Mine!—but so that they’ll share it with each other and the world. He intends to fill the earth with his glory, and he does that through, well, people like me.
People who get faith and hope wrong all the time. People who sin and act unbecomingly despite grace, despite forgiveness. People who forget their identity in Christ and what he calls them to do .
He still uses me in spite of all that. In fact, he ministers to me even as I complain, become moody, treat my family and friends terribly. He gives grace in lovingly disciplining me with the Bible, his Spirit, and his people.
I am grateful for the people, God’s instruments of grace. They remind me that God is not like me; he remains forever “other.” He is displeased when I disobey, but he doesn’t stop loving me or say, “I’m done with her! She’s a lost cause.”
No, he gives grace and continues to perfect his work. He overwhelms me with who he is, and, in the overwhelming, I change. His grace transforms me, moves me, calls me to serve others as a steward of the manifold grace of God.
Image: Fake Plastic Alice (Creative Commons)