His Gracious People..

I know I always go on and on about how appreciative I am for God's grace, but I often forget about how thankful I am for people who emulate Jesus and show His kind of grace and forgiveness. As I have been trying to be extra aware of all the things that God continually blesses me with, of course God would bring me back to the beatitudes where He blesses people with certain attributes that reflect Him. Matthew 5:7-8 says, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." He says that if we are merciful, we will be shown mercy. I know that I am reluctant to let people get away with almost anything, but WHY?! He lets me get away with EVERYTHING. Its easy to see God's grace, because we don't deserve anything but death for everything we've done against Him, but it is much easier to miss the times that our friends and family are so gracious to forgive us. I know that I say something ridiculous to one of my best friends sometimes or think I need my parents to hear my opinion and, instead of them correcting me, or being mad like they very well could be, they instantly forgive me and allow me to move on like nothing happened. I'll be the first to admit that I sometimes need to be set straight, because I can get feisty fast, so that anyone could let me slide and act like it didn't happen, that is a miracle in and of itself. I am so thankful that I am surrounded by gracious, Jesus-loving people. I am going to make it a personal goal that I am extra aware of other people's grace and that I try to imitate and show it in my own life. Hold me to that! Today, thank Jesus for the grace of Him and His people. Love Love Love.