He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
I confess that I have trouble following rules. I always have. It’s not that I go around breaking rules or the law all the time but that I find it hard to make them central to my life.
Rules and laws made by humans are what they are- human made. They are flawed. They always will be. The new covenant is about accepting that imperfection. I am imperfect. My society is imperfect. My culture is imperfect. And we always will be.
I could deny this. I could try to fix this. I could lament, and sometimes I do.
But mostly I accept this as the reality of the world that I live in and the human condition.
When I accept it, then I can see more clearly. Denial, perfectionism, and lament are equally exhausting. Acceptance is a life-altering, soul-freeing, energy-infusing state.
Don’t get me wrong. I do not mean the kind of acceptance that is giving up in a hopeless state.
Freedom from the guilt, pain, fear, and frustration of breaking rules allows a shift to focusing on spirit-led, life-filled actions. I mean accepting the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus that forms a new covenant of grace, forgiveness, and salvation given to us.
The new covenant of Christ allows us to live with the Spirit, led by the Spirit. When led by the Spirit, there is hope in every step. Let every action be an attempt to see reality for what it is in that moment and to say or do the most Spirit-filled thing that we are capable of doing. Instead of living life fearing that we will do wrong, breaking a rule, we can now live life hoping. We can bask in and share the grace of the new covenant shared with us through the Spirit.
It is not accepting, lamenting, denying, or defending the ills of the world. It is looking reality in the face and giving it a big ole fat hug!
Guilt, blame, denial, and idolatry are death. Compassion, love, acceptance, and trust in God and the Holy Spirit give hope to every moment. They are filled with possibilities.
Do not feel as though this is a debt or sacrifice to accept the gift of unending grace. It is an honor to live in the freedom of acceptance.
Let us pray that the Holy Spirit awakens us each day filled with hope so that we may walk a path that shares the love of God. When we see injustice may we act in ways that do not condone or deny but that allow our gifts to spread mercy, love, and hope to all. Hallelujah and Amen.
This devotional was written by Jill Pope and read by Joey Smith.
Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.
If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.
First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.
