Loving Our Enemies Within | God’s Grace is Our Superpower

Imagine yourself as a beautiful, unique clay bowl when you were born. You were one of a kind. Your shape, your color, your size were all very special and you were deeply loved, appreciated and cared for by your parents. As you started to grow older you noticed that you were different from all the other kids. A few of those kids didn’t like your different qualities and they seemed jealous or afraid of you, so they called you names and excluded you from their games. This hurt. You might have started to think that they had good reason to not like you, like maybe you were unworthy of their admiration. This all had the effect of knocking a chip out of the beautiful pottery bowl that was yourself.

Sometime later, you were frustrated because you needed something that you couldn’t afford, but someone you knew had this thing and you figured that they didn’t really need it like you needed it. So you stole it. Your conscience felt a little bad about it, but you were able to push those thoughts down in your mind…at least mostly. You noticed something like a small crack in the side of your bowl.

Then someone you loved moved far away or even died. This was like a big crack in your bowl, so big that a part of your bowl broke off and shattered. Because of this loss, you felt so bad that you tried taking drugs to ease the pain and before you knew it, you felt you couldn’t live without these drugs. You were addicted and your life really started falling apart. There were more and more cracks in the beautiful bowl that once seemed so perfect. If you believed in God, you were pretty sure God had allowed all these things to happen to you because you weren’t the good person God wanted you to be. This life, and these cracks, were punishment for your imperfections and your failings. Your clay bowl was so cracked that you thought it was useless and ready for the junk pile.

But God apparently had a different plan. Rather than judge and punish you for your bad choices and painful experiences, He began to fill in all those cracks and shattered pieces, mending them so that your bowl was restored, still useful and possibly even more beautiful than before! And not only did He repair the gaps and missing pieces, He did it with the costliest materials.

This image of you as a once perfect, then broken, and finally restored clay pot is a spiritual dynamic found in the Bible…it’s called grace.

Japanese craftsmen employ an ancient technique called “Kintsugi” to repair broken clay pots and bowls. It fits with their philosophy that just because something breaks, it shouldn't be thrown away but rather restored. This is honoring the original by giving it new life. And the new bowl or pot has an extra special dimension, having been restored with precious materials like gold or silver.

The kintsugi technique reminds me of God’s working to restore us by His grace. Grace is defined as undeserved favor. We can’t restore ourselves by our willpower and strength alone. It’s a gift of God’s grace, as Paul mentions in his letter to the believers in Ephesus:

Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared beforehand for us to do.

How amazing that God saves us! He restores us! He transforms us! And it not only benefits ourselves…it’s for the purpose of blessing others and to make the world a better place, “to do good works which He prepared beforehand for us to do.”

Here are some pictures of bowls restored with the Kintsugi process:

Be blessed! The only thing required to have this beautiful and valuable restorative process take place in your life is to receive the grace God is pouring into you. Look for it!

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About the Author

John lives in Pleasant Hill with his dog, Gunnar, and a multitude of guests who enjoy the peace and beauty of the Cascade foothills. With three children and three grandchildren all living in Oregon, he is continually blessed with their company and the good food that always accompanies their get-togethers!

The Joy of Being Human | Relax in Grace

A big part of being a Christian is to just enjoy being a child of God and know that you are saved. You are not saved because of anything you’ve done but because of grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast.” Because of this we can relax in Christ. This does not mean that we do not try to be a good person, it just means that we do not have to be perfect.

For me it is hard to not try and be perfect. If you ever heard of the Enneagram, then you will know that the “achievers’ (Type 3) try very hard to be perfect and won’t be satisfied with anything less. Because of this, they can be workaholics and dedicated to doing things right. I often feel defined by my achievements. I am goal oriented and can find my worth in my accomplishments. I am driven and find it hard to relax. I have a difficult time napping and turning my mind off. I have a type A mentality and a strong drive for self improvement. I have a fear of failure and not measuring up. Because of this, I have a hard time accepting that God's grace is enough. I try to earn my salvation and be as good as I can be, instead I need to learn how to lie back into the arms of grace and know his love enough.

But just because we have grace does not mean we can slack off. James 2 talks about how faith is alone is not enough. It needs to produce good deeds. If it doesn’t, then it is dead and useless. So we need to find the right balance of doing what is right and basking in the grace of God. And on this journey, we can also remember that there is nothing we could ever do to make God stop loving us. We need to find that right balance of being good for the right reasons, not to earn God’s love or salvation but to be the person God inspires us to be, a person after God's own heart.

In Romans 8:29-30 Paul explains that “those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers. 30 And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified [declared free of the guilt of sin]; and those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity].” It is tempting to get so caught up in the fact that God calls us to a great purpose that we forget that he has justified us and glorified us. He has sanctified us, saved us and given us salvation before we even discover our calling. As soon as we believe in Him, he gives us grace which grants us the power to find that purpose he has called us to. So work hard at that purpose that God has destined you for but don’t forget to relax in His gift of love, peace, joy, hope and grace that he lavishly bestows on his children.

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About the Author

Mollie is recently married to her wonderful husband Dustin. She is a Wound Care RN at McKenzie Willamette Hospital. She enjoys being creative, getting outdoors and spending time with friends and family.