April #jammed: Grace Studies.

Day 113: Picking up piles.

“…the Lord disciplines the one he loves …” Hebrews 12:6

“Go pick up the poop.” I flatly demanded.

“MOM!!!!!!!!” came a symphony of complaint.

“You break the rules, you pick up poop.” I continued.

I’ll be completely honest with you, I find just enough times to enforce this rule so that I don’t ever have to clean the yard of bombs. I’m no dummy. But, it’s good for them, because they hate it. Good parents know that making kids do things they hate builds character and discipline.

Today’s verse explains the same concept. We’ve all had to turn around and face a stinking mess that we’ve made, and pick it up. It stinks ….literally. God is a good Father, all of the time. It doesn’t always seem fair that we have to pick up after ourselves. Mistakes are forgiven, so they can just be forgotten, right?

The best learning opportunities follow on the heals of our biggest mistakes.

God knows it. I think most of the time we know it …but admitting it’s a process.

“I don’t care who’s fault it is,” and I handed them each a blue bag. That’s my favorite lesson to teach. The lesson on why it’s really a bad idea to tattle.

Blaming someone else for our mistakes rarely makes the mistake magically turn into theirs. There’s no doubt that our hearts are highly influenceable, but to blame someone else for what we let into our hearts is not an efficient way to mature.

Jesus died to give us full access to a fresh roll of bags, and the humility we need to bend over and pick up our messes. We don’t have to act like someone else forgot to pick up after their dog …we can just say, “I’m sorry …I didn’t feel like it …that wasn’t cool …I’ll go back and pick it up.”

The world lacks a lot of this simple and humble honesty, because we’re told to push our defects down. Jesus didn’t die so that we would all act like nothing was wrong with us, He died so that the multitude of our sins would be forgiven. If everyone runs from their mess, the world stinks.

Father, Praise You for discipline! Thank You for the freedoms to apologize for our sins that Jesus died to give us. We confess that we push grace to the side for blame and entitlement a lot, thinking we have it all figured out because You love us for who we are. Bless us to know the difference between flaws and sins, and help us to come to You in humility with them all. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy Bagging,

Megs

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