Another point. Far too often, when "grace" is mentioned, the following is left out.
Titus 2:11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Grace is a teacher. There is instruction. Grace is not a free pass. There is longsuffering and mercy certainly. But Grace does not simply smile when we fall short. Grace puts us to the test so that we learn and overcome.
The following best demonstrates grace by a parent. Unfortunatly for me, it was my mom.
To start with, my parents could be both very strict and at the same time allowing independence.
In highschool, I foolishly went out with some school buddies and we decided it would be a great idea to get drunk. I did. Bad move.
Now mom and dad never said a word to me about it. But the next morning mom got me up early and drug me around Dallas all day long. It was the longest day of my then short life! LOL! I had no idea what she was doing but by the end of the day, I decided there was nothing fun about drinking alcohol. Now that wasn’t my last trip around the mulberry bush but it was my last tango while under mom and dads roof!
It wasn’t until much later as an adult that we talked about that. I had no idea the point was to teach me something about it. Grace can be both merciful and harsh at the same time.
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