Reading for Tuesday, Dec 25: 2 Timothy 2

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus…” (v1)

In our broken world, we often assume grace to be a posture of weakness. The one who forgives easily is derided as naive, a fool, easily duped by those who are more streetwise. But the gospel of Jesus inverts this notion. We find here a strength — first of all, granted to us by the One who is capable of forgiving us for our many transgressions. It is by His grace that we are empowered to truly live, to seek to embody goodness in the world through the liberating power of His mercy. But also, we become conduits of this same merciful power in the world, releasing others of the burden of their wrongdoing toward us. In so doing, we deploy the resources of heaven to bring life to those enslaved by reciprocal thinking. We find our strength in our identity as a forgiven people and in turn we “pay it forward” by passing on this same blessing to others.

Like Timothy, we need these reminders, that we are at our strongest when we are forgiven and forgiving. May this Word bear much fruit in our lives.