Be a gracious person

Good morning, everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Be gracious, even when others aren’t”

Our Bible verse for today: “He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend.” Proverbs 22:11 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Be a gracious person”

Typically, in the Christian world when we speak about grace we’re talking about God’s grace bestowed upon us. The most common theological definition of grace usually reads something like, “Undeserved blessings freely bestowed upon man by God.” Most references to grace in the Bible are about some form of God’s grace bestowed upon us.

However not only is grace a character trait of God’s, but it is also supposed to be a character trait which the Holy Spirit brings out in us. God freely bestows grace upon us, and we are to freely bestow grace upon others. Another way to look at it would be that as His people we are to be conduits through which His grace flows to others.

When the character trait of grace becomes a dominant feature of an individual’s personality, we say that person is “gracious” – their manner is one of graciousness. The dictionary tells us that a gracious person is, “Marked by kindness and warm courtesy; tactful; merciful or compassionate; marked by elegance and good taste.”

Our world needs a lot more people who are gracious – people who are marked by kindness and warm courtesy, people who are tactful in their manner, merciful and compassionate with others (and some elegance and good taste would be a nice touch too).

Can I get a witness? The discourse in our culture has become increasingly shrill and unkind. The tone set by many of our leaders is caustic and often mean-spirited, and we see throughout our society an increasing trend towards Bart Simpson-like snarkiness.

But the people of God should be different. In our manner we should demonstrate the graciousness of God. We should be people who are known for our kindness, warmth, courtesy, tact, mercy and compassion.

In Proverbs 22:11 Solomon noted that a gracious person is the friend of kings. What he meant was that everybody likes a gracious person. It’s hard not to! People who are kind, compassionate, warm and tactful are very likeable.

Hopefully through our study this month the Holy Spirit will have the opportunity to sand off some of the sharp edges of our personalities and we will all become more gracious and likable.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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