Grace and Truth

        Recently, I participated in a Bible study entitled "Grace and Truth" based on the verse from John 1:14 - "The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth."   Jesus represents total 'grace', the sacrificial, forgiving love and endless mercy of the Father, as well as 'truth', the impossibly high standards of the law: "be ye perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Wow! What a huge chasm separates these 2 concepts!   At times, I can feel myself scaling the cliffs of grace; other times, I'm drowning in the deep waters of truth.
    This past year, Jim and I have been running together several times a week and working on memorizing Scriptures while we run.   Of course, I'm the one that struggles with actually putting one foot in front of the other instead of just passing out on the trail!   So, we came up with the great idea of memorizing verses about running (surely it couldn't hurt!).  Currently, we're working on Hebrews 12:1-2, "let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith."  The more we talked and thought about that verse, the more it felt like a lifeboat in those floodwaters of truth!  Yes, I am called to a high standard that I continually fail to reach, but my Savior, full of grace and truth, is not only the origin of my faith but, also, the One who promises to bring it to full maturity! Unfortunately, though, just like the Apostle Peter, I have a hard time keeping my 'eyes fixed on Jesus', especially when the giant waves of life are surging over me. . . but, I can just imagine Him reaching down His hand, like a father reaching for his little child, and gently pulling me back to His boat of grace!
    As I continue to ponder these verses, I'm struck again with the need for honesty. If I'm not honest in my own reflections of myself, my sins, and my constant failure to be 'perfect' or 'sweet' or 'good' or any other self-affirming adjective you might choose, where is the need for grace? And, if I'm not aware of my own desperate need for grace, how can I manifest grace to others who are just as desperate?   How do I sit with others, screaming at God in pain and grief, and offer love and grace? How do I, without judgment, listen to a friend's struggle with doubt and fear?   Growing up in the Bible Belt, I was comfortable with the blacks and whites of right and wrong.   Now, I'm not so sure. . . I'm a flawed, broken crayon living in a box filled with countless broken colors desperate for a touch from the Great Physician.   And, if God is glorified when we "accept each other just as Christ has accepted you" (Romans 15:7), then who am I to argue?  Thank God, for grace and truth!