"Rooted in grace for a lifetime of ministry." This is the stated goal Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis has for each of its' students. Having seen this phrase on a business card recently, I was nailed between the eyes: GRACE is the foundational and overarching answer to all my problems. I'm still learning the basics! I need to love others with the grace with which I have received from Christ and even from other people. In a sense, grace in Christ is the only thing I should be focused on.
It's not like grace is the only thing in the Bible (there is law, for example), or that it is the only perspective on the whole of the Bible, but what is important to regrasp is that I have only received the grace, not the law or its' condemnation. I can read the Bible for all that is in there, but in that true story, that history, I play the part of a recipient of grace, and so I should always "let it" feed me its' grace, even in reading about God's glorious judgment.
God has related to me and other Christians in a special way, absorbing on the cross- in Christ His beloved Son- all the law, with its wrath, leaving no other way to relate to me but gracious, overflowing, endless love! The law is now a guidepost for me, showing me what righteousness looks like, nothing more or less. The law cannot "get" me now- I've already been set free and escaped into Heaven! In Christ, I'm already seated above all condemnation, legalism, moralism, snobbery, and judgmentalism. It is finished in Him!
And so, what have I to express to others but grace? Grace, Grace, Grace. This is my aim and my joy. If there is anything lacking in other people, it deserves my wholehearted grace. The Lord knows that many have been very abundant to me in my innumerable sins and deficiencies. In their grace they have literally been little saviors to me, saints sent from God to love this child that He has loved despite his countless demerits.
God has rooted me in grace and I, in turn, want to make my life one of abundant grace, through ministry to others.