https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2025/01/27/what-is-your-reaction-to-grace?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-93y4gefKHipXwM5wrTUeHlQ9qgXagBQrFS2irYAJD_N4m_7MzcusQmpUe-tcUM-W1aOt62-ljwsZB78hUT3oLMONGkYA&_hsmi=341845161&utm_content=341845161&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_threadWhat Is Your Reaction to Grace?
January 27, 2025
by Taylor Joy Murray
“Jesus looked at him and loved him.” Mark 10:21a (NIV)
I wasn’t sure if I was more embarrassed by my mistake or by my tears. Phone pressed against my cheek, I sat in my car, alternating between crying and apologizing to my friend on the other end. She had called because I was late for dinner. A dinner I had completely forgotten about. “It’s OK, Taylor. Really.” Her tone was warm, steady and entirely unfazed. “We’ll reschedule for next week.”
Heat radiated from my body as we said goodbye. How could I have forgotten? Why on earth was I so emotional about this?
I should have. It was then, mid-thought, when God impressed something on my heart that startled me: I want you to notice your reaction to grace. For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled to receive grace. During some seasons, grace has felt freeing and close. Other times grace has seemed like a melody sung, particularly in church circles, in a language I could not understand. Maybe you can relate and we're not alone. Mark 10 tells the story of a man with a similar struggle. Mark records this man's conversation with Jesus about how to obtain eternal life. First, Jesus referred him to the Ten Commandments. The man’s immediate response in Mark 10:20 makes me smile: “‘Teacher,’ he declared, ‘all these I have kept since I was a boy’” (NIV).
Translation: “I’m trying so hard. Look at all the things I’ve done right!”
The life he was living was neat and shiny and sealed off from grace, as if he did not need it. Jesus' nonverbal cues are rarely described in the Gospels, and that’s one reason I think the next verse is so captivating. Mark recorded Jesus' facial expression: “Jesus looked at him and loved him” (Mark 10:21a).
If compassion clothed itself in a human body, what would it look like?
Just imagine the look in Christ’s eyes. He offered endless kindness toward this young man who was trying so hard. He blessed the man's effort and invited him to “have treasure in heaven .... come, follow me” (Mark 10:21).
It seems Jesus was less concerned about him getting everything right and more concerned about loving him. What is your reaction to grace?
How we respond to human grace is often a mirror of our response to divine grace. The God who looks at us with love does not get flustered by our shortcomings. His heart of gentle embrace is never outmatched by our mistakes. God waits to enwrap us in His shame-obliterating arms of grace, welcoming us into self-compassion, repentance and repair. Or sometimes simply a deep breath before we try again. He offers not just general grace but specific grace. A gift carved with our individual names, for our unique stories. He holds more space for our humanness than we often do. I’m learning that truly trusting in the unconditional love and sovereignty of God compels us to relax. In your life and mine, there is an eternal plan unfolding that none of our mistakes or failures can stop.
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