Living Out Grace & Truth

by Rhonda Henegar

I’m going to be honest with you right now. I’m devastated by the assassination of a young man who had a pure heart for God. He was smart. He was respectful. He used his platform to share grace and truth but aways backed it up with knowledge. I’ve started and restarted, written and rewritten this many times. I’ve prayed. I’ve asked the Holy Spirit to give me His words. I will try my best to write something that makes sense concerning truth and grace. So please bear with me. 

When I consider the definition of grace it can have two meanings: 1) elegance, beauty, and charm in form or manner, or, 2) it can refer to divine favor, mercy and unmerited help, particularly from God. This theological meaning emphasizes that grace is a freely given gift of love or assistance, not something earned, enabling individuals to experience spiritual rebirth or forgiveness. 

We cannot begin to understand grace and truth without looking into God’s Word for guidance. John 1:14 states “The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw His glory, the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.” NET Version. God gave us grace and truth when he sent his son Jesus to walk this earth Jesus is our grace and truth. He is the Word we so desperately need. 

So, what does grace look like in our walk? In doing some studying I came across this acronym by the author John Baldoni (5/09/2019) showing us five attributes of grace: 

G – generosity, the will to do something for others 

R – respect, the dignity of life and work 

A – action, the mechanism for change 

C – compassion, the concern for others 

E – energy, the spirit that catalyzes us. 

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Again, being honest here, I can’t do this on my own.  There’s one who lives in me who can.

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another helper, that He may be with you forever. … But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring you to remembrance all that I have said to you. 

John 14:16, 26, NASB 

I don’t know about you, but I know for sure that without the Holy Spirit, without the written Word, and without the grace that was given to me by the Father, there is no grace and truth in me. I’m just a sinner saved by grace, a flawed human being. Any part of my life that shows grace and truth comes from Truth Himself, Jesus, through the gift of the Holy Spirit. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). On my own I have no power. It’s up to me to tap into that power that has been given us as a gift from God. 

Let’s be real here. This world needs grace and truth desperately. We need to step out of the church walls and share grace and truth with a dying world. We need to take a hard look at ourselves and ask, “how am I doing sharing grace and truth?” First, we start in our homes, then we take it out to a fallen world. We are someone’s only Bible. Whether we like it or not our actions and reactions are being played out before everyone we meet. 

As I sit writing this on 9/11, contemplating the lives lost to evil, mourning a young man who wasn’t afraid to share his faith, thinking of the heinous acts of evil that are occurring increasingly in this country, I must consider my reaction to what is happening in our world. Do I let depression take over? Do I respond with unkind words? I would like to think that I would respond with the grace God gave me and continues to give me. 

By the time this is published I will have finished the weekend in the Jennings County Jail serving with New Life REC (Residents Encounter Christ). I get the privilege of sharing the Gospel with the women housed there. I’ll never forget the first time I served there. I didn’t think I had anything to offer. I didn’t think I could relate in any shape or form. But God! Once I got over myself and out of my own way, the Lord showed me so much beauty in their brokenness and I was able to love them with the love of God. This time I go in with the resolve to share the grace and truth of Jesus, being generous and respectful, with action and compassion on my part, and drawing on the energy of the Holy Spirit. These women need to know that they are just as worthy as I am. My role for the weekend will be Assistant Lay Director, and I get to expound on God’s love. These ladies desperately need to come to understand God’s love! This is just my small way to share grace and truth with a dying world. 

This world is only going to get darker. It’s up to us to be the light. So, let us put on the full armor of God, leave the church building and be God’s hands and feet, showing the lost the love of Jesus so they, too, can experience grace and truth.