Grace and Patience

I was sitting in church on Saturday for the first time in months! It felt awesome being there.

This slide (pictured) flashed on the screen before the service.

We’ve seen similar messages the last few months. Do these things to protect you and your neighbors – wear a mask, stay six feet apart, wash your hands.

But I was struck by the last item on the slide – Grace & Patience. Love your neighbor by offering grace and patience.

I knew instantly that this was something I have been struggling with.

I’ve been stingy with my grace during this pandemic. I’ve been judging our government leaders. I’ve been judging friends, family, and businesses around me who are handling things differently than I would.

I’ve gotten so caught up in the politics and divisiveness of this year’s events, that I’ve forgotten that God’s got this and God’s got us.

And just because we are all going through tough times, we don’t get a free pass to be a bad neighbor.

On the contrary, times like these are when we need to love our neighbor as ourselves, with our best efforts possible.

How convicting it was to be reminded on Saturday of the greatest commandment:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭12:30-31‬ ‭(NIV‬‬)

The masks and the physical distancing will eventually go away.

Thankfully, God’s grace and patience for us never fades. So our grace and patience for others shouldn’t either.