Grace isn’t just for you

I was tough. I would walk into my classroom, my clothes less wrinkled after ten minutes in the dryer. Yes, they weren’t as wrinkled but not completely wrinkle-free. Yet, no one pointed it out. None of my students made fun of me (at least not within earshot), but when I caught one of my students plagiarizing, my forehead wrinkled. And when the same student asked for yet another extension, my nose wriggled. And when a chronically absent student asked for extra credit, my nerves felt wrangled. How dare they?! Didn’t they know better?!

1 Corinthians 15:10 reads: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” Oftentimes, we work hard to obtain certain accomplishments and rewards, and once we receive them, we relish in how they make us feel: favored and superior. As we meet each goal, we misconstrue GOD’s grace, thinking that it’s just for US. It’s ours to hold, to protect, and to cherish. We miss an essential part of the contractual agreement that GOD makes with us in HIS Word. GOD’s grace must be shared with those around us.

Over the course of my teaching career, I’ve gained a reputation as relatable yet stern; energetic but, at times, rigid; innovative but unyielding in pursuit of student success. Oftentimes, these attributes served me well; yet, there were times when I did not extend grace to students as I should. Covid changed that. It took control out of my hands, and my career, my life, and even my spiritual and personal growth was in a state of limbo. The same could be said for my students whose carpets, or everyday routines, were suddenly yanked from under them. And so, they had spurts of energy where they showed up to my virtual classroom ready to learn, and there were times when they would disappear. I would go find them, learning that they’d lost a loved one to Covid or some other event outside their control, or a panic attack had confined them to their beds. Some said they were ‘drowning,” while others ‘just couldn’t do it today.’

So, I messaged and messaged, and I gave extensions after extensions. Then, I offered large amounts of extra credit that mortified even me. In the end, I retained many students who I would’ve lost had I not adjusted my grace thermostat. And can you believe it, I lost nothing? I shared GOD’s grace and didn’t lose a thing! Isn’t it amazing how HE works?! There’s more than enough of HIM to go around, and what kind of believer would I be if I never extended the very grace He freely gives to me?

Ephesians 2: 4-9
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”

1 Peter 4:10
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace