What In The World???

"Your love never fails. It never gives up. It never runs out on me." 

-One Thing Remains by Jesus Culture

That line in that song is enough to bring a body to their knees, eyes to tears, and a heart to a breaking point -- at least it was enough to bring me to my knees, my eyes to swell with tears, and my heart to break. I don't deserve that unending love that never fails. I don't deserve a love that never gives up on me. I don't deserve a love that never runs out on me. But, He's given it to me and He's given it to me freely. The grace in that blows my mind. Why in the world would a perfect God humble himself to the form of a baby to be ridiculed, persecuted His entire life and then beaten, crucified, placed in a nasty tomb only to go through hell and conquer death so I never have to experience it? Why? Why would He do that? Because He loves me. HE loves me. HE LOVES me. HE LOVES ME. He said here is my grace it is sufficient for you. So then, why is it so difficult to give that same love and same grace to other believers? If God was willing to give you a love that never fails, never gives up, and never runs out, why in the world do we struggle to extend it to our brothers and sisters in Christ? It's easy to extend it to non-believers because "they don't know the truth of the gospel" -- it's kind of like we give them a get out of jail free card --but, when it comes to extending that grace and that love to the ones that God has already let experience His grace and love we don't do it. Does anybody else besides me find that incredibly heart breaking? What if we chose to love always? What if we chose to put our feeling aside and extended the grace and the love to everyone? What would our world look like? Doesn't everything start within the "home"? If we can't extend the grace that we've been given to our own "family" then is the grace that we extend to our "friends" genuine or is it that "bless your heart" kind of grace? Why do we draw lines when Jesus never did when it came to His grace and forgiveness? (I understand that sometimes lines do need to be drawn, but I don't think they ever need to be drawn when it comes to His grace and forgiveness. He forgave the sinner on the cross next to Him for crying out loud. He forgave those that persecuted Him. He forgave Paul. He forgave Judas. He forgave His brothers. He forgave ME!) I know you don't want to let people walk all over you, but that is completely different than giving grace. Giving grace is giving people that second chance that you don't think they deserve. It's forgiveness. It's loving your enemies. It's being kind when you really don't want to be because you've been hurt. It's understanding how raunchy you are, how great God is, and living by the same grace that you are saved (and if you ask me, part of living is giving...i'm just sayin').  What if we went on a journey to experience what it means to live like Jesus? It's not enough to know what it means. You must live it, experience it, enjoy it. I'm going. You want to join me? 
On His adventure,
Laurlee <3