Grace #3—Varieties of Grace

Use the gift you have received to serve one another as good stewards of the varieties of God’s grace. Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 4:10–11).

With apologies to Browning:

How finite are we? Let us count the ways.
We do not have the depth or breadth or height
Of power that will make our lives all right;
So we need more; we need God’s varied grace.

Our creator has unlimited wisdom and power Therefore, he orders his own existence so that he is as happy with himself as he can be. But when he made us, he put limits on us. He is infinite, we are finite. So how can we fulfill our mandate to represent him—to be his images—as we continue with his work of making the world a better place to live? Success is possible as a community. As we follow Jesus in the obedience of faith, the Spirit frequently allocates each of us various abilities or assets that, when we use them, allow us to enjoy and to display some aspect of his glory. God puts portions of the treasure of his goodness in our “jars of clay,” each portion unique to us. Then he urges us to rejoice so in our gift that we share it with those around us. In this way “the knowledge of the glory of God will fill the earth.”

Lord Jesus, because I have gifts that differ according to the grace given me, move me to employ them appropriately so everyone else can enjoy this glimpse of your glory.