“This world runs not by grace.

You bomb my country, I bomb you back.

You hurt me, I hurt you back.

And grace goes against that.”

On this edition of Live the Promise, Philip Yancey discusses how Christians can be a ” grace dispenser” in a world where grace is increasingly scarce.

When we are wronged by someone we sinfully want to respond by inflicting hurt back upon our attacker. However, Yancey explains that God’s idea of grace is contrary to the retaliatory, vengeful nature of the world we live in. We show grace when we respond to hate with love.

Yancey explains how he sees that many advances in the world come from Christians because they are out on the front lines showing grace to the “least of these” when no one else will.

In the United States, Christians are often thought of in a negative light. However, in places like South Korea or African countries, the word “Christian” brings a smile to the faces of those people.

“They (Christians) are the people who educate, they are the people who care for the sick, and they are the people who look after victims. It’s a positive word not negative word.”

Yancey believes that the same could be said for Christians in the United States if we would practice grace in our lives.

How can I dispense grace?

According to Yancey, grace-dispensing can come in the most simple and unexpected ways.

He tells the story of a woman in Canada who felt God calling her to minister to the tele-marketers who would call her house soliciting products or services. Instead of getting frustrated with the tele-marketers who were simply doing their job, she decided to ask if there was a way she could pray for them.

“She started telling stories of people who just open up and then break down in tears on the phone because someone showed them a little grace in the midst of a pretty tough world out there.”

This woman is a perfect example of a Christian who showed grace in an unexpected way and it transformed the hearts of those she was ministering too.

As Christians, we should seek to show grace in the most unexpected places and in situations where it doesn’t benefit us because that is the essence of grace.

“It’s undeserved, that’s the point and when we do that then the world says ‘Oh there’s something different about these people, there’s something different about what they believe.’

With a willing heart, ask God to reveal ways in which you can be grace-dispenser in your world today.

Philip’s book is .

Key Scriptures: Hebrews 12:15

Featured Songs: Let Them See You by JJ Weeks Band; Jesus Friend of Sinners by Casting Crowns; Live Like That by Sidewalk Prophets

Highlight : The world doesn’t run by grace

How to be a “grace dispenser”