9 Ways to Extend Grace to Others — Dawn Klinge (2024)

FAQs

9 Ways to Extend Grace to Others — Dawn Klinge? ›

God wants us to grow strong in giving grace to others. Giving grace to another person is simply to forgive them, unconditionally, just as God forgave us through Christ. "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Colossians 3:13, NIV).

God wants us to grow strong in giving grace to others. Giving grace to another person is simply to forgive them, unconditionally, just as God forgave us through Christ. "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Colossians 3:13, NIV).

In His grace toward us, God says, “I see your sin. I name your sin specifically to you through conviction of the Holy Spirit. I have made a way for your specific sin to be dealt with at the cross of Christ. You don't have to cover it or ignore it or try to deal with it on your own.

Common grace is what God provides to everyone, even to the unbelievers. Common grace maintains the whole of creation, and every breath that anyone takes is due to it. God still loves His creation and, “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5: 44-45).

The concept of “grace” is an unmerited gift of compassion we give to or receive from others. I find that internalizing grace in my everyday interactions makes me more aware of the compassion of others. It allows me to see good in myself and accept and receive forgiveness more readily.

The grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus forgives your sin and restores your relationship with God. One way you can extend God's grace to others is by forgiving those who have offended you. In that way, your life becomes a living portrait of the gospel.

The Bible describes at least 5 different categories or expressions of grace: saving grace, sanctifying grace, strengthening grace, sharing grace and serving grace. Let's dig into each of them. Saving grace is the grace God gives to sinners to influence their hearts and turn them to Christ.

Individual Practices – reading, meditating and studying the scriptures, prayer, fasting, regularly attending worship, healthy living, and sharing our faith with others.

What does it mean to extend yourself grace? ›

You likely have heard the so-called golden rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In my opinion, giving yourself grace is all about the reverse: Do unto yourself as you do unto others. Or in other words, practice self-compassion—aka having understanding, acceptance, and forgiveness of yourself.

He gives us near misses when accidents are heading our way. He often brings us the right thing just in time. And He also gave us an innate conscience to know right from wrong. All these things are common graces, and everyone born on the earth has the benefit of them because God so loved the world.

So in our spiritual life, we cooperate with grace by keeping the commandments and by repenting when we break them, by making use of the means of grace, prayer, the holy sacraments, penance, and works of mercy. It's all about the love of God. If you love him and him in your neighbor, then you are cooperating with grace.

But get this - God doesn't want you to only receive his grace, he also wants you to extend his grace to others around you. Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). Now here is the problem. We love to receive grace, but we often don't want to extend grace to others, right?

The doctrine of common grace encompasses the biblical teaching about the universal and undeserved goodness of God toward sinners. By common grace, God restrains sin, evil, misery, and wrath in this fallen world, while conferring general, nonredemptive blessings on all mankind.

So one could say, we receive grace or grace happens every time that through the work of the Holy Spirit we see the world as particularly patterned on our behalf. For example, our prayers are answered beyond our expectations or we are overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude for an unexpected kindness or loveliness.