Good morning people following Jesus’ example

Too often Jesus is misrepresented by His people. We need to be ones who reflect Him accurately and we must always be mindful to convey His heart as well as His words.

I love what this verse says about our gracious Saviour.

Luke 4:22 All spoke well of Him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

Gracious words…

…are words that are too often void in our conversations and our communication about God. I too often hear people “prophesying” and proclaiming words of judgement and God’s wrath and anger on people these days. I too often pick up harshness in some people’s words when they talk about God’s view of sin and people that are bound up in it…

…but what this word needs is an accurate reflection of our wonderful, loving Saviour. People need to hear from a God who came to seek and save the lost. People need to hear from a God who did not come into the world to judge the world, but to save it. People need to hear from a God who, when talking to people stuck in sin, graciously said I don’t condemn you but you do need to change your life.

Sure Jesus spoke the truth and talked about a needed change in the lives of every person…but it was always from a place of grace…Jesus spoke gracious words…

…and so should we. It’s easy to judge but that’s not God’s intention at this time in history. Sure there will be a time but it’s not now. It’s a time for grace and it’s a time for us to reveal it through our lives and through our words.

One last challenging thought: Jesus did speak some tough words, but it was only to those who were religious and steeped in legalism…those who missed the grace of God. Let’s not be those people.