HE IS GRACIOUS!

HE IS GRACIOUS!

1 Peter 2:1-3

1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

          Merriam-Webster defines our English word “gracious” as “marked by kindness and courtesy.” It’s what makes a brute a gentleman. In our text this morning, the word is the Greek word chrestos and it roughly means “useful, better, easy, good and kind.” According to one source, some manuscripts use the word Christos making the text read “the Lord is Christ.” Perhaps the Lord Himself should be the definition of the word gracious since He is the embodiment of all that is useful, easy, good and kind. Peter goes on to suggest that we mimic the gracious nature of the Lord in our relationship with other believers.

1 Peter 1:22

22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

          Are you gracious? Do you act in kindness when it is not convenient? Allowing yourself to be inconvenienced is the essence of the nature of the Good Samaritan. It is the product of brotherly love. It is what is meant by loving your neighbor as yourself. Remember the kindness and grace that Jesus has extended to you and then apply that to your dealings with others. Be gracious.

Dear Lord, help me to be gracious today. Help me to be useful, kind and good. AMEN