October 18, 2011 Give Grace

Give Grace
Read Romans 1:1-15

Romans 1:5-6 Through Christ and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

WHAT motivates you to do what you do? Some of the things I do are to fulfill my responsibilities in my work, to help out at home and to be in relationship with my family. I think most people do what they do for the same reasons. Hopefully, our activities are based on our desires to live well in peace with God.
Paul defines his purpose in life as a result of God’s grace—”to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.”
Paul was mindful that God had given to him God’s love and grace for his salvation. And Paul receives the grace, knowing God didn’t give him salvation to keep, but in grace he is to offer that same salvation to others.
Our purpose is also to give the gift. Keeping God “to ourselves” would be as if we took the salary we made at work and put it into a bank and never used it. Our money would do no one any good. Our family would suffer because we would not use it for food or shelter. We would have no money to help others in need or even care for ourselves.
Keeping the Gospel to ourselves is similar. No one will benefit from God’s grace gift if we do not share it. We’ll have some benefit, but we’ll have much more if we invest into God’s great love for us. God wants you to enjoy salvation’s blessing, experiencing it in all it offers in this life and the next.


Pause and Consider: how you can fulfill this purpose. God offers himself to you—will you offer him to others?