Many people have frustrations in some of their relationships, but they don’t consider that the problem could be not having the right balance of grace and truth!
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
The word of God took on flesh in Jesus. He came with glory and fullness of grace and truth. Jesus was the last Adam who set the example of how we are to live as a person freed from sin and bondage. When we are free from the bondage of sin, we are also free from guilt and shame controlling us in our relationships. We begin to learn to live dependent on the Lord and let go of our unhealthy codependencies.
Grace and truth are not meant to be just for our personal relationship with the Lord. They are also meant to be lived out in our relationship with others. The grace of God and His truth enable us to live a successful Christian life that is empowered and led by the Spirit of God!
Dr. Cloud uses the terms “love and limits” to describe the Biblical concepts of grace and truth. We can love people deeply, but truth allows us to have proper limits in our relationships in order to keep them healthy. If we don’t have limits on our love, we can create codependency, ungodly attachments, arrested development, selfishness, entitlement, and narcissism. Many people disregard limits in their relationships until they reach a place where the relationship has caused them much frustration and pain.
Are there relationships in your life that create frustration and pain? If so, how do you deal with them? Do you have a good balance of grace and truth in the relationship? You can prayerfully bring those relationships to the Lord and ask Him to show you if grace or truth need to be added to the mix to create more peaceful and satisfying relationships.
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.
Image by Mircea – See my collections from Pixabay