We definitely need to rethink the way we measure a person – and ourselves. We tend to fixate on the worst moments, as if the sum of an entire life can be tallied by a single mistake or two, or three.
Maybe it’s because we’re scared of our own flaws, so we point to someone else’s as a kind of shield. Or maybe it’s just easier to see the stumble than the long walk that came before and after. To really know a person, even ourselves, takes time and effort; and frequently we prefer the easy path.
But grace doesn’t work that way. Grace doesn’t keep score. It doesn’t freeze you in your lowest moment and decide that’s who you are. Grace sees the through-line; the quiet effort, the times you tried again, even the way you grew after you fell.
It sees what you can be, not what you have been. (This was the subject of today’s sermon at church.)
When I look back at my own life, I can name plenty of moments I’d rather not be remembered for. Things I said without thinking, choices made out of stupidity. But none of that tells the whole story. A person isn’t a snapshot. We’re more like a collage with torn edges and mismatched colors that somehow come together into something whole.
The truth is, we can’t be summed up by our worst days any more than a song can be defined by a single note. Grace reminds us that life is, in fact, cumulative. Every act of kindness, every small correction, every apology, every try again, they really do add up.
We forget that sometimes. We hold people hostage to who they were, not who they’re becoming. And yet, if we’re honest, we’ve all been on the receiving end of grace; from someone who saw a better version of us long before we could.
Maybe that’s the real gift of grace. It doesn’t erase the past; it just refuses to let the past be the whole story.
Join us in making the world a better place. You’ll be glad that you did.
Cheers, friends.