On the Fifth Day of Christmas …

Happy Fifth Day of Christmas, y’all! I’m sorry this post is a day late.

On the fifth day of Christmas, Yahweh gives to us: Grace.

Grace is a gift freely given without condition. It is a gift unearned, unmerited, even undeserved. This is a difficult thing for us to accept in our culture that says we have to earn everything, that there are people who don’t deserve our kindness, and that giving comes with conditions and favors are owed and paid back. It makes us want to ask, “what’s the catch?”

There is no catch. God loves us. Period. Full Stop. Even before we can respond to God’s love, God loves us. Even if we choose to never respond to God’s love, God loves us. God loves us because of who God is.

God’s love for us, God’s gifts of life and redemption and salvation are gifts of grace. God doesn’t ask us to earn them or prove ourselves worthy or be good enough.

God comes to us not with condemnation but with encouraging love so that we can become who we are created to be – God’s beloved children living the way of love, offering grace to this broken and hurting world we live in.

Grace means that we learn to see all of our interactions with others through the lens of relationship not as transactional. Grace is about giving, not give-and-take.

Grace means that we understand that hurt people hurt people, it means we see the pain beneath the anger, the scars under the hate, and then respond from a foundation of God’s love rather than reacting or retaliating or seeking pay back.

Grace is asking “how can I best love you” rather than “what’s in it for me.”

Grace is knowing that when we are not so gracious to others that God loves us and the ones we hurt equally and unconditionally and that each day is an opportunity to learn to live the way of love better with God’s help.

Jesus comes to us not just in this Christmas season but in every moment of every day to teach us to love as God loves and to live as God’s beloved children.

So, on this fifth day of Christmas, I invite you to make time to ponder God’s amazing grace and ask God to help you reflect that Grace to everyone you encounter today.