When Grace gets Down in Your Attitude

Well, I declare, friend! Come on through that garden gate and park yourself beside the lemonade pitcher over here on this ol’ front porch. There’s a lil’ ol’ barn swallow swoopin’ over the shed like it’s mighty late for choir practice, and an ol’ muskrat down by the creek looks suspiciously like it’s been appointed deacon of somethin’ real important. That there’s the thing about God’s grace. When it sho’nuff gets hold of us, even the creatures around us ought to notice something has changed.

When revival reached Nineveh, God didn’t merely rearrange their religious vocabulary. Jonah 3:8 says, “They were to turn from their evil ways and from the violence in their hands.”

Their repentance plum had hands and feet. That there’s genuine transformation.

Early Methodist believers sho’-nuff’ noticed something similar during seasons of revival. People known for harshness began treating neighbors, families, and even animals with greater tenderness. That there downright makes sense because Proverbs 12:10 teaches that a righteous person plum cares for the needs of animals.

Grace that never gets past Sunday mornin’ ain’t finished travelin’ yet.

In Ezekiel 26:36, which says, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you,” God sho’-nuff’ promised to give His people a new heart. When Christ changes the heart, eventually the change plum begins leakin’ right on into our conversations, tempers, relationships, habits, and reactions. You become slower to bite somebody’s head off and a whole lot quicker to extend mercy.

And  Zechariah 7:9 says, “Show mercy and compassion every man to his brother.” That there’s revival you can sho’-nuff’ recognize without a church bulletin announcin’ it.

A changed heart downright produces changed behavior.

Father, soften everything in me that has become hard. Let Your grace change not only what I believe but how I speak, react, forgive, and treat every life You place in my care. Grow kindness where irritation has taken root and compassion where selfishness has settled in. Make the evidence of Jesus visible in me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Now unlatch that ol’ gate and carry some gentleness right on back into the world with you, friend. Don’t go struttin’ through the day like an ol’ ram guardin’ the last turnip patch. Even an ol’ river otter knows life goes smoother when you plum quit fightin’ every current. Let somebody encounter Christ today through your patience. When Jesus changes the heart, even the whole barnyard oughta start to breathin’ a little easier.

With joy,

Gwen