Faces contorted by anger and hate. Venomous words of condemnation and rejection. No love. No compassion. Zero grace. Who do you think of when you read these words?

Unfortunately, I think of many “Christians” in our country today; people who feel compelled to be moral and theological police – picketing at gay’s rights rallies, outside abortion clinics, on the steps of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Is it any wonder that so many people want nothing to do with Jesus?! Do not get me wrong. We are called to “be holy as He is holy” and to be “salt and light” in this world of darkness and despair. I am incredibly passionate about being actively engaged in the political arena! We must never, ever, under any circumstances compromise on the principles we know are right and true from the inerrant, eternal Word of God. But what about grace?

Seriously. God has been hammering me lately about this. I’m a justice girl. I see things, for the most part, as black and white. Wrong is wrong. Sin is sin. Don’t complain to me about the bed you’re laying in when you spent so much time and effort making it yourself. Compassion is not, and has never been, a strong suit of mine. Neither, unfortunately, is the dispensing of grace. I am very unlike Jesus in that regard, a fact that has, as of late, very much gotten my attention and broken my heart.

I have been lavished with the incredible, incomprehensible, immeasurable love and grace of God. Me, a sinner – a glutton, a gossiper, prideful, arrogant, self-righteous – the list goes on and on. And yet, while I was still as sinner, Christ loved me and gave Himself up for me. For me! And while I have been set free from the bondage of sin, I still wrestle each and every day with a tendency towards it. If it wasn’t for the grace of God, truly, I do not know who I would be or what deplorable things I would be doing.

I am becoming more and more convinced that the measure of my spiritual growth and maturity is not necessarily how much theological truth I can grasp and recite, how many Bible verses I can list by memory, or how many Bible studies I’m attending. It boils down to one question: how well am I loving people with the grace and love of Jesus? Really loving them – not just in word, but in deed, in relationships. How often am I praying for – and seeking to bless! – those who are still gripped by the bondage of, say, homosexuality or the despair and regret of abortion? How many people who are living far from God am I actively and tangibly loving in meaningful ways and on a regular basis? Isn’t that what Jesus did? I don’t ever recall Him hiding behind a sign that condemned people to hell. Rather, I remember Him saying, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  That’s way more appealing and compelling, don’t you think? I want to be like that.