Learning to Have Grace

II Corinthians 8:7-8 "Therefore as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others and to prove the sincerity of your love."

Grace is a beautiful and precious thing. Were it not for God's grace I would be running full speed down the road to destruction. Because of His amazing grace, I have proof of His love. He loved me enough to send His Son to die for me, to nail my sins on the cross, and forgive me of my trespasses. That kind of grace is HUGE. Sadly, this kind of grace is much rarer in my own life. It's easier to accept the grace than to give the grace. But grace proves our love and so it is a essential part of the Christian life.
As a daughter and a young person, I know how easy it is for me to judge those around me. It's easy to look down on people that do bad things or that don't do things the way I think they should. The worst part is, the ones who usually receive the least amount of grace from me are the ones living in my house with me. The ones who need it the most. Sometimes, I like to think I could do things better, or that my ideas are superior. I think that I could have dealt with the situation better. I sometimes even have the nerve to think I could do something better than my parents. (Because you know, I'm the one with ten kids whose been there, done all that.........not!)
Insert grace.
Sure, my parents aren't perfect people. They sin, they mess up and I watch on the outside and see those sins, and think I could do better. But, I am just as fallen as they are and I make just as many mistakes, probably even double what they make. In my pride I can blow my horn all I want about what they should have done or how they would have done something when I was a child, but is that love? Is that grace? Is that honoring the direction, authority and wisdom of these amazing people God has placed here to raise me?
I think not.
Just like we need our parents grace in so many ways, they also need our grace. They are fallen people, walking down a broken path, serving the Lord and doing the best they can to raise us for him. That is a BIG load, a load that single people like myself don't have to carry yet. If God can show us His great love by forgiving us and extending us huge amounts of grace, and if our parents can love, forgive and extend us grace for all of the numerous things that we do wrong, then we should have no problem extending that grace and forgiveness to our parents.
I have two amazing parents. They have raised me, cared for me, guided me, taught me about God, and so much more. I can not express how thankful I am for them and how very much I love them. I have sinned against them time and time again, and they have shown so much grace. The least I can do in return is to forgive them when they make mistakes and have grace enough to prove the sincerity of my love for them.
 Because after all, that's what God did for me.