Give Grace!

Summer is here!  The school year has ended and the student's final exams have been graded.  Do you remember the stress of having to take final exams? So much seemed to be riding on getting a good grade.  For some, a poor grade implied a poor character.  Years later, we as adults can’t remember our grades in school and know that our character is different than our ability to pass a test.  We’ve learned to give grace to others because we know how much grace we have needed over the years.
The more we come to know Jesus, and the grace He has shown to us, the better we will grow to and show love to each other.  The Apostle Peter reminded the church  “Most of all, have a true love for each other. Love covers many sins.” 1 Peter 4:8
I read a story from a young woman that illustrates how easy it is to forgive where there is love.  She said “I was invited by a group of friends from church that was planning a picnic, and it sounded like fun.  The only problem was that times had been a bit tight for me, as I was a single woman barely making enough to pay rent.  What did I have that could contribute to the picnic?  Then a thought struck me.  I could make a cherry pie! A friend had given me a quart of canned cherries that would make a very nice pie filling.  So I prepared the crust, thickened the cherries, and put the pie together. When it came out of the oven, it looked so good and the aroma was wonderful.  At the picnic, my fiancé, Stu, was the first to take a bite of my cherry pie.  I saw a puzzled look go across his face.  Then he began to spit out cherry pits! It had not occurred to me that someone would sell a can of cherries without ‘pitting’ them first.  How embarrassing!  Well, he married me anyway, and the cherry pie has been an inside joke for the past 48 years.”
We’ve all made mistakes,  I once confused baking soda with baking powder, and the homemade chocolate chip cookies came out of the oven flat as could be!  I gave myself grace and enjoyed them anyway!  I hope this year we laugh at our mistakes more easily and love each other more deeply.  
1 John 4:10   “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”