Hebrews 12: 15
God’s grace is a gift. We do not have to earn it, we do not have to grasp for it and if we have faith, we cannot fall short of it. All we need to do is trust the lord, be still and let him pour out his grace upon us. Yet the writer of Hebrews tells us that we are to help each other not fall short of the grace of God. He is not talking about the Grace God gives us. He is talking about the grace of God that we are to model toward the world. If we are making every effort to live in peace, then we will be giving grace to those in the world that need it. There are people who will never encounter grace until they receive it from a Christian. Grace is an act of love; it is a gift of blessing. When we experience conflict, modeling our behavior after God’s grace can lead to peace. Sometimes that requires us to accept less than we are due by right, but God will never shortchange us in the end. God always blesses us when we are blessing others. Demonstrating God’s grace is the positive side of living as a peace loving Christian.

Failing to live this way has a very negative and destructive outcome. A combative settlement of conflict results in the seeds of bitterness. Bitterness may start small, but if not dealt with quickly, it can grow into a mountain of trouble. That trouble is never content to remain just between the original combatants; it spreads and defiles the hearts and minds of many. Wars between nations have risen from a small root of bitterness. Bitterness has split churches and families. Bitterness releases the power of evil to work in our world. When Christians fall short of living out the pattern of God’s grace, we empower sin to destroy our world. As we depend upon God’s grace in our lives, he gives us strength. Grace overcomes Evil.