Episode 882 Grace and Consequences
[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining me on episode 882 of the inspired stewardship podcast.
[00:00:06] Ryan Englestead: [00:00:06] I'm Ryan Englesteadfrom pop psych one oh one. I encourage you to find health. And one way to be inspired to do that is by listening to this, the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott Maderer.
[00:00:18]That the
[00:00:19] Scott Maderer: [00:00:19] truth is that we are in a cause and effect world. We are in a world where sometimes the things that we do, the choices that we make end up creating results that are not necessarily the results we want. And I struggle with that idea until I begin to realize that it's not my job to give grace or mercy.
[00:00:41] It's my job. Welcome. And thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling. In the inspired stewardship [00:01:00] podcast who will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.
[00:01:09]And today's spiritual foundation. What about investing in others? I talk with you about why grace is free, but consequences still may come. I talk about how grace and mercy aren't the same thing. And I also share how Ephesians chapter two verse eight and other passages share this idea about grace and mercy.
[00:01:30]Asians chapter two verse eight says for by grace, are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, I've been thinking a lot about grace and mercy here lately because I've had some situations come up where some people have done things and some things have happened. And I've had to think about how I relate to them and how my relationship with them is going to be affected by these things.
[00:01:56] And I'm a big believer in grace and mercy [00:02:00] and forgiveness and these sorts of emotional things, not just for the sake of the other person, but for the sake of ourselves. And this idea of grace being something that is given to us by God, for free as an example of how we should look to other people is something that I take very seriously.
[00:02:21] But I noticed that whenever we talk about grace in the Bible, it isn't saying that there are no consequences. It is. It's saying that there's no punishment, there's no pain, there's no harm. It's just is that we are to extend grace towards others, just as grace has been extended towards us. See mercy and grace are not the same thing.
[00:02:46] Mercy is about withholding the punishment that is deserved. Why grace is a blessing that we don't deserve. And in truth, we are given both by God, trust me. I've done many things in my life [00:03:00] that deserve punishment, that I've not always gotten. And I've done many things in my life where I did not deserve to get grace, and yet I've been given it.
[00:03:09] And I think we're called to do that for others as well. That same moment though means that grace and mercy though, it's something that we all deserve and we all should give, and we should all give it to not just our friends, but also to our enemies. I will be honest. I struggle with that. A great deal because whenever I come to these sorts of passages, it talks about how.
[00:03:37] We are to give grace and mercy to others. And yet at times I've seen people use that as an excuse to get out of consequences, to get out of any sort of result of their action. And I know that the truth is that we are in a cause and effect world. We are in a world where sometimes the things that we do, the choices that we make [00:04:00] end up creating results that are not necessarily the results we want.
[00:04:06] And I struggle with that idea until I begin to realize that it's not my job to give grace or mercy. It's my job to do that. As an example, it's my job to do the best I can to extend that same feeling. But the grace and mercy don't come from me. They come from God. They come through us at times. But not by us.
[00:04:32] And that makes it really hard to know if you're doing the right thing. That makes it really hard to know if you're holding someone to consequences of their choices and their behavior and their attitude is it, then that you are judging them, which is not something that we're called to do. But if those consequences come naturally, how can we withhold them as well?
[00:04:59] And again, [00:05:00] I don't talk today as somebody who has the answers to these sorts of questions. I come as somebody who's been asking these questions of myself and of others, because I'm not sure how to answer the question. I'm not sure how to answer the question of what happens whenever someone has done something that causes harm to others.
[00:05:22] And what is it that results from that? What is justice? If someone is doing injustice, what is not creating harm, but allowing grace and mercy to extend to someone, even if that someone has done something that is harmful to others. And that idea is one that I just don't have the answer to. What do you think is grace and mercy in the world today?
[00:05:54]Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast as a [00:06:00] subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoy this episode, do me a favor. Go over to facebook.com/inspired.
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