The Sunday School class that I am attending is going through John Ortberg’s Soul Keeping.
The session today was about grace. Ortberg seems to define grace as God
and others filling our fuel-tank. By this definition, not only do we
need grace, but Jesus (in his humanity) needed it, too, as he drew from
God for sustenance. We try to achieve and to gain worth through our
achievements. Jesus, however, knew that he was already accepted by his
Father and that his Father and the Holy Spirit were present with him.
People talked about how they got to be present with troubled people
by listening to them. Last week, the teacher mentioned the limits of
that: should he feed his soul with someone’s troubles? In some cases, he
may need to back away and let someone else minister to the person.
Someone else shared that there is not a whole lot of grace in this
world, as people are harsh with one another, and therefore it is
difficult for them to receive grace. They feel they have to earn
whatever favor they get. At the same time, this person confessed that he
recognizes his need for grace, but it has been difficult for him to
extend grace.
Ortberg in the video talked about how his children were crediting his
wife with an insight that Ortberg shared with them. This mattered to
Ortberg because his wife was very verbal, and he feared that she would
make a greater and more lasting impression on his kids than he does.
The teacher said that we should be thankful for people in our lives,
especially for people who, for whatever reason, have put up with us for a
long period of time. I identify with that.