Grace

Simply stated, is unmerited favor. It is when someone is on our side, is for us instead of against us, and is showing favor towards us that is unmerited. In other words, there is nothing that you do to gain it. It is given freely.

In terms of God, it has to do with his relational character, that He is a God of love. He desires relationship with us, and He gives it freely to us. He desires to connect and be with us, and because of His grace, he desires to give to us and to help us. When we are growing, it is because God is bestowing some gift of grace to us in some various form and that gift is something that is unearned.

It may be the gift of love shown in salvation and forgiveness. Or it may be the gift of a talent that he has bestowed on you. It may be an opportunity to take a class or to have an experience, or it may be the love of a person. Gods gifts of Grace come in many forms to us, through direct intervention by Him, or through His use of people in our lives. As Peter tells us, when we are receiving love and help from other people, that is the grace of God being given to us. (1 Peter 4:10)

Whatever the form of grace that you have or need in your process, the essence of grace must be present; unmerited favor. What that means is that you need people and support in your growth process who are for you and not against you. You need some people and God on your side no matter how you are doing. That is the unmerited part of grace.

When you are growing, and getting help depends on your performance, that is a Catch-22. You have to have help to get better, and if you have to get better to get the help, you don't have a chance.

So, in evaluating your system of growth, you may ask yourself the question am I getting help and support that is going to be there regardless of how I am doing? Help that, I do not have to earn? This is getting the nutrients that we need in order to grow from outside of ourselves, from God and His people. There are many aspects of this help described in the Bible, too many to name here. But here is a short list of some of the more basic ways that we experience grace in the growth process.

Unconditional acceptance and forgiveness from God and other people. (1John 1:9, James 5:16)

Support and encouragement when we are too weak to make it on our own. (1 Thess 5:11, 14, Ecc 4: 9-11, Heb 10:25)

Modeling and imparting skills in living, from others, (Heb 13:7)

Correction and instruction. (Lev 19:17)

There are many forms of Gods grace that people possess to give to you through their gifts. If you are going to be growing, you must make sure that these elements of grace are present in your system of growth for change to take place. You must be in some place of unmerited favor for growth to happen. You must find a place of unconditional love and acceptance,