Grace Upon Grace

In the world of Christian self-help books, blogs and relationship articles, you will most definitely run across your love languages.

This isn’t a new topic, but if you haven’t taken it recently, you will find the link here.

It helps you understand your feelings and process how you receive and give affirmation.

Sure, obviously you can apply this to your better half, but also apply it to every relationship you have: friends, in-laws, coworkers.

My top love language is by far time. To me, time is a currency that holds unmatched value. I’m not talking about taking a huge sacrifice of your time, maybe just an hour to get coffee and catch up, or maybe just five minutes to talk on the commute.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “You make time for what you want to make time for,” and maybe that just stuck with me. Now, of course life doesn’t always allow us to give a lot of time, and I completely understand that.

Missouri is the show-me state and like most people from here are – don’t tell me. Show me. So it came as a massive shock to find that my second love language is words. Now looking at this, I realize that should in no way be a shock. Journalism is one of my degrees, and writing has become an outlet.

In my family, we are cards people. Birthdays, we give cards. Holidays, we give cards. Hostess gifts, you will most likely be receiving something with a card. Just because gifts, you guessed it, a card. We’re words people. It’s how we communicate. It’s how we love.

We call it “the touch”, but what that really means is grace. It’s our way of extending warmth and grace. Influenced by southern roots, we learned the art of a thank you note at a young age and are always on the hunt for stationary. There are over one hundred thousand ways of showing grace and I love learning new methods. It’s not the only way, but it’s our way.

Grace – we all could use a little more and we all could give a little more.

Grace isn’t seasonal. Hi, I’ll take a chai tea latte, pumpkin muffin and a side of grace, please!

It’s something we daily give and receive, no matter how good or bad the season.

We don’t deserve God’s unending grace and yet He still offers it to us.

Hebrews 4 describes it as the “throne of grace.”

We serve a God who has a throne of grace! He is fair and just, absolutely, but He is also gracious.

Titus 2:11 wraps it up in one concise sentence. “For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people.”

Colossians 4: 6 encourages us to have our words full of grace.

Writing this, memories surface of times I was more than lacking in giving grace, but other memories come of times people extended grace in ways I can’t forget.

Life throws us into seasons where giving grace is the last thing we feel like doing. However, it seems that in those seasons, grace extended to us helps encourage healing.

It’s not a reason to justify sin, but as a healing balm that comes with repentance and forgiveness.

No matter your love language be it time and words like mine, or something else, God extends His never-ending grace.

“May we be a canvas for displaying God’s powerful works of grace,” She Reads Truth.