“Every story that ends in service for Christ started in grace.”1
The words were inscribed in my journal with no attribution, but I had been studying Romans 1:7:
To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Grace and peace” always figured prominently in the greetings of Paul’s letters, and I can’t help but think that it had something to do with his own story of grace received.
Paul was quick to point away from his pedigree, his resume, or his reputation. He understood how much he was forgiven, so he labored and never looked back except to point to grace:
By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:10)
Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name…” (Romans 1:5)
Grace first and then apostleship. Paul’s story ended in service for Christ, but it started in grace.
Grace first, then apostleship, and all for the sake of “obedience to the faith among all nations.” Paul had been called to bring the same grace he had received to people who were radically different in belief, worldview, and way of life. Paul was a Roman citizen. He was a citizen of Tarsus and a Jew, but before all else, he was a citizen of heaven.
Like Paul, our identity as Christians supersedes all other distinctions. First a Christ-follower, then an American. First a Christian, then a Republican or Democrat.
As fellow citizens of heaven, we need to have the same heart God has. Our calling to be saints includes a calling to have a heart for the world.
Most of us will not board an airplane to fulfill our calling to love the world, but in an election year, loving our politically-other neighbor may feel more costly than airfare with an extra baggage fee! Our toughest cross-cultural assignment may be extending grace to a colleague or fellow church member whose opinions seem incomprehensible to us. God wants his word to go out, and he has a way of bringing to us the people he wants us to reach.
Most of us will not board an airplane to fulfill our calling to love the world, but in an election year, loving our politically-other neighbor may feel more costly than airfare with an extra baggage fee!
Tweet
Is it possible to extend grace and experience peace in an election year?
What is your assignment as one who has received grace? We may not be apostles, but we are called to a sinewy obedience of everything from Genesis to Revelation.
Beloved of God, called to be a saint, your story started in grace. What’s your assignment during this election season?
Holding You in the Light,
Every story that ends in service for Christ started in grace.
Tweet
- An internet search and a scavenger hunt through my Romans commentaries have not revealed a source for this quotation. Does anyone out there have an inkling? ↩︎
Are you ready to vote in the upcoming election?
More thoughts from a political novice HERE.
Free Encouragement in Your Inbox!
On the third Thursday of every month, I send a newsletter with biblical encouragement straight to my subscribers’ email inboxes. Frequently, I share free resources, and the newsletter is where everything lands first.
CLICK HERE to read my most recent newsletter where you’ll be given the opportunity to subscribe. I’m committed to the truth that women can become confident followers of God and students of his Word, and I want to help you along that path.
Looking for Challenging Devotional Reading that Encourages You to Seek Intimacy with God Every Day?
As you know, I’m committed to the truth that women can become confident followers of God and students of his Word, and it’s my goal to help you along that path. At Living Our Days, I provide biblical content and resources to encourage biblical literacy and faithful living, and now I’m sharing devotional content on the YouVersion app. Visit my profile page to get free access to the reading plans!
I participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees. If you should decide to purchase any of the books or products I’ve shared, simply click on the book title, and you’ll be taken directly to the seller. If you decide to buy, I’ll receive a few pennies at no extra cost to you.
Living Our Days 
Yes. Well said – “As we prepare to cast our votes this year, Augustine would urge us to faithfully engage in politics—without putting our faith in it.”
LikeLike
Isn’t that a great quote?
And I think we have to guard our hearts from putting our hope in anything other than “Jesus’s blood and righteousness.”
LikeLike
Being people of grace is definitely a beautiful assignment for each of us, and especially during this season of great division!
LikeLike
Yes! Our assignment! May we live and move and have our being in his grace and peace!
LikeLike
Unfortunately a lot of people seem to forget that being a Christ-follower means loving others always, even during election seasons, and even those with different political views. And yes, it can be very hard! We certainly need God’s grace and peace in our own hearts and lives so we can extend it to others.
I love the Augustine quote that April shared!
LikeLike
We’re grace-dependent people at all times, but I think during election season we feel it in our bones!
LikeLike
This is a wonderful way to frame this conversation, Michele. It reminds me of a post I wrote years ago called “Parking Lot Grace.” Here’s a line from it: “We have to drive defensively, but we can’t live defensively.” Especially not during election season!
LikeLike
Oh, so true! And we can’t choose to do life only with people who think like us and vote like us. The Kingdom of God is big and broad.
LikeLike
Thankfully love is a choice – and not a feeling – in an election season where grace is needed for our fellow citizens who don’t respond in kind. April’s Augustine quote is ideal for the season – also considering he wrote City of God, a treatise about how Christians make such good citizens!
LikeLike
May we make good choices in how we expend our emotional energy! I limit my news intake for that reason. It’s easier to choose love when I’m not immersed in vitriol!
LikeLike
‘loving our politically-other neighbor may feel more costly than airfare with an extra baggage fee!‘
Ain’t that the truth. I admire your fortitude in addressing the election, Michele, and your wisdom in cautioning us to love well. This is such a volatile season and after a bit of consideration, I decided not to address it online since I mingle with people on both sides of the aisle … and there is so much angst and crazy going on. And understandably so.
A perfect occasion to choose grace. Yet again. Unmerited favor.
I’ll be taking your wise counsel to mind if/when I turn on the evening news. Lord have mercy.
LikeLike
With fear and trembling, I “put my oar in” (as Marilla Cuthbert warned Matthew not to do). I’m the furthest thing from a political animal, but I listen to Paul. Grace isn’t always my default, so I’m looking at this season as grace and peace boot camp.
LikeLike
I don’t remember seeing this quote before. I so appreciate the call for grace with our “politically-other neighbor . . . whose opinions seem incomprehensible to us.”
LikeLike
Election years are good practice for normal life in the body of Christ. Sometimes we don’t agree on every point, but we are called to do life together—with grace and peace!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I thankfully live in a part of Texas that is not politically charged, so I only see polite southern manners extended which makes me feel sheltered when I hear highly charged conversations online. Sigh. It would be nice to see “real conversations” in this area instead of mud slinging.
LikeLike
Let’s hear it for “polite southern manners!”
And I whole heartedly agree that we ought to be able to have real conversations with people we may not agree with. We’d all be richer for it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Loving our politically-other neighbor may feel more costly than airfare with an extra baggage fee!” It certainly requires walking in the Spirit and denying our flesh. Well said!
LikeLike
You’re right, and this year, I think it’s our only hope!
LikeLike
May we be gracious neighbors to those around us in this important time for our country.
LikeLike
It’s so important for our testimony!
LikeLike
What a refreshing post. And what a lovely way to frame the state we seem to find ourselves in: swimming in graceless, often hostile water. I appreciated all of this, but these questions in particular are a good, challenging reminder not to forget what we’ve been given, and not to forget our calling: Is it possible to extend grace and experience peace in an election year?
What is your assignment as one who has received grace?
LikeLike
We are grace dependent creatures for sure, and yet God pours it on in abundance! Thanks for reading
LikeLike
[…] Grace and Peace in an Election Year. “In an election year, loving our politically-other neighbor may feel more costly than airfare with an extra baggage fee! Our toughest cross-cultural assignment may be extending grace to a colleague or fellow church member whose opinions seem incomprehensible to us.” […]
LikeLike