{"id":8657,"date":"2013-10-22T01:00:49","date_gmt":"2013-10-22T08:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/?p=8657"},"modified":"2013-10-22T13:08:11","modified_gmt":"2013-10-22T20:08:11","slug":"signs-of-spiritual-maturity-14-gracious-no-matter-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/2013\/10\/22\/signs-of-spiritual-maturity-14-gracious-no-matter-what\/","title":{"rendered":"Signs of Spiritual Maturity #14: Gracious No Matter What"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Elder Peter Lim<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the most obvious signs of a maturing Christian is graciousness. At the root is the word \u201cgrace\u201d which refers to the giving of something that is not necessarily deserved. In our context we are talking about someone who returns kindness when it may be justifiable to retaliate for an unkind deed. All Christians will show grace at least from time to time because we mimic the character of God and it\u2019s at the core of how He treats us, by giving us the gift of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ even though we don\u2019t deserve it. A maturing Christian is consistently characterized by graciousness and shows a pattern of it despite varying degrees of difficult circumstances encountered over time. So what are some of these difficult circumstances? Examples will help.<\/p>\n

Gracious in Conflict Situations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it. Living in peace with other people, even Christians, is not always easy. Although there are basic processes of peacemaking in the Bible and discussed in many books, the actual making of peace is often complicated by personal pain and perceived wrongs. The key to resolving difficult circumstances is clarity in understanding the issues at hand. But achieving clarity requires many meetings and discussions to clearly understand each party\u2019s perceptions and misperceptions. This is usually a lengthy and time-consuming process and requires a willingness of all parties involved to see it through and see peace as a worthwhile goal. This also means that there will be many opportunities to escalate the situation instead of defusing it. The difference between escalating and defusing is grace. Until the ownership of responsibility is sorted out, each party will feel like it\u2019s the other party\u2019s fault. Therefore an extra measure of grace is necessary to show the other kindness, which you believe the other party doesn\u2019t deserve. The greatest killer of grace is an unwillingness to discuss the issue because then there is no possible way to reach clarity. Someone who uses the excuse that it\u2019s too painful to discuss is obviously not a mature believer. It\u2019s almost like saying that the pain that he\u2019s going through is greater than the pain and humility that Jesus endured in being born as a man and being crucified on the cross.<\/p>\n

Gracious Leaders<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being gracious is especially important for leaders. One big way to sow seeds of division within the church is to complain to your spouse and\/or other people about dumb decisions that the other leaders make. There is a right way and a wrong way to discuss serious issues that are facing the leaders of the church. Again, grace is the difference.<\/p>\n

The gracious way:<\/p>\n