Grace - Give it and receive it
Dr. Roberto Miranda
(Audio: English)
SUMMARY: The parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 is a well-known story that is a challenge to add anything new to. However, the focus of this parable can be on grace, both from the Father towards us and the grace we must assign to others. Grace is an essential element of the Christian life, and this parable serves as an antidote to intense preaching and a reminder to live a life of grace. The 18th-century spirituality of agonizing over sins and salvation misses the aspect of God's mercy and understanding that Jesus portrays in the parables. This parable reminds us to extend the benefit of grace to others and not just assign it to ourselves. The younger son's entitlement and rebellion are a reminder that youth can be overconfident and entitled. The son's insolent way of asking for his inheritance before the father dies is an extreme insult in Middle Eastern culture.
The parable of the prodigal son teaches us about God's mercy and grace towards us, even when we offend him. Just as the father in the story allows his son to make mistakes and go his own way, God allows us freedom and space to find our way back to him, even when we sin. God's love is based on our freedom and maturity, and he will not force us. It's important to acknowledge our sins and repent, but not to let guilt paralyze us. Instead, we should trust in God's forgiveness and grace, and continue to seek holiness. God's forgiveness is overwhelming and abundant, just like the father's forgiveness in the parable.
The attitude of God is one of overwhelming forgiveness and generosity. The blood of Christ continually cleanses us from all sin, and outsiders often have more insight into God than insiders. We need to cultivate a sense of brokenness in our lives and trust in God's grace, even when we don't make the cut every day. We must also assign this same attitude to others and be quick to forgive, overlook defects, and be generous. Living in grace leads to emotional health, happiness, and peace.
To have emotional health and live happily, one should live in grace by being generous, forgiving, and assuming the best in people. Celebrate weakness and depend on God's grace rather than one's own good acts. Embrace grace for oneself and reflect it towards others. May the community be a community of grace, always open to strugglers and those who mess up. God's grace is a mystery to celebrate and adore.
The parable of the prodigal son teaches us about God's mercy and grace towards us, even when we offend him. Just as the father in the story allows his son to make mistakes and go his own way, God allows us freedom and space to find our way back to him, even when we sin. God's love is based on our freedom and maturity, and he will not force us. It's important to acknowledge our sins and repent, but not to let guilt paralyze us. Instead, we should trust in God's forgiveness and grace, and continue to seek holiness. God's forgiveness is overwhelming and abundant, just like the father's forgiveness in the parable.
The attitude of God is one of overwhelming forgiveness and generosity. The blood of Christ continually cleanses us from all sin, and outsiders often have more insight into God than insiders. We need to cultivate a sense of brokenness in our lives and trust in God's grace, even when we don't make the cut every day. We must also assign this same attitude to others and be quick to forgive, overlook defects, and be generous. Living in grace leads to emotional health, happiness, and peace.
To have emotional health and live happily, one should live in grace by being generous, forgiving, and assuming the best in people. Celebrate weakness and depend on God's grace rather than one's own good acts. Embrace grace for oneself and reflect it towards others. May the community be a community of grace, always open to strugglers and those who mess up. God's grace is a mystery to celebrate and adore.
I hope you had a good week as well, it’s good to have you here tonight. Let me ask you to come with me to the word of the Lord and let’s go into the gospel of Luke, chapter 15, and I’d like to share with you such a well-known parable that really it’s a challenge just to add anything new to it. You know, one of the good things about the word of God is that you can read the same message, you can preach the same message for many, many times and yet there’s always something new that comes out of the word of the Lord, it’s inexhaustible, it really is.
The Holy Spirit, only He could do something as marvelous as containing the entire truth of the universe in this book of only several hundred pages. And I really believe that God’s truth in potential is contained somehow in these words, because it’s a living organism. So we can always benefit from going back to well-known passages, such as the parable as the lost son as they call it, in chapter 15, verse 11, the prodigal son, it’s been called as well, but I think, badly named for reasons that I hope I’ll make somewhat obvious as I dwell on this wonderful, wonderful parable that has been one of the most admired narratives in the entire history really of western civilization. It’s a literary jewel and a masterpiece of imagery and certainly of moral and spiritual depth as well.
The Holy Spirit, only He could do something as marvelous as containing the entire truth of the universe in this book of only several hundred pages. And I really believe that God’s truth in potential is contained somehow in these words, because it’s a living organism. So we can always benefit from going back to well-known passages, such as the parable as the lost son as they call it, in chapter 15, verse 11, the prodigal son, it’s been called as well, but I think, badly named for reasons that I hope I’ll make somewhat obvious as I dwell on this wonderful, wonderful parable that has been one of the most admired narratives in the entire history really of western civilization. It’s a literary jewel and a masterpiece of imagery and certainly of moral and spiritual depth as well.
