Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart: http://sothrichfield.podbean.com/
Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
The Swedish Lutheran theologian, Gustav Wingren, wrote, “God does not need our good works. But our neighbor does”. Sometimes it is hard for us to fully accept and rest in the deep, cavernous love of God because we wonder if we can love in the same way. “Can I really forgive him/her without them even asking for it or saying sorry?” Yet, that is what Jesus did on the cross! Pure grace that was given to us before we ever even had a chance to say “sorry”. We receive God’s saving grace through faith, but are we ready to give that free grace away to others? Let us ask God to help us fully embrace the radical, free grace of Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in giving free grace, forgiveness, and love away to others.