We all have received God’s grace for our past mistakes and failures. So why is it so difficult for us to extend grace to others?

Kyle Idleman reminds us of the unmerited favor that has been poured into our lives, and our call to forgive others who have sinned against us.

“I’m never going to be asked to forgive someone more than God has forgiven me. When we can live with that understanding, when we can have a clear recognition of how much we have received, then it gives us the strength to give what seems overwhelming. That is a really important perspective.”

He shares helpful advice for those who are having a hard time extending grace to others.

“Every time you start to think about what has been done to you, take that thought captive and think about what God has done for you. If you can replace what has been done to you, with what has been done for you, then you’ll be able to give grace towards what has been done to you.”

Extending grace when it’s not deserved can be rather difficult, especially if others aren’t willing to do their part, or don’t realize they had a part to play in the offense. So we need to look to the giver of grace for His guidance and direction.

“If you think of our relationship with God as the example, His grace towards us is both a model and motivation for our grace towards others. He forgives us, but reconciliation through Jesus requires forgiveness and repentance. We are able to forgive people to a certain extent, but to have reconciliation, that requires more than just our willingness to forgive, it requires their repentance.”

“Grace most beautifully demonstrated, in the gospel, is in these unlikely reconciliation stories. It’s not just that forgiveness has been offered, it’s that repentance has been demonstrated; that there’s been confession, and then a relationship that you never thought could get reconciled gets put back together.”

“When you see that, it’s a glimpse of what God has done for us.”

We are all undeserving of God’s grace and mercy, but He gives it to us anyway. We should do the same for others.


Kyle Idleman is the Teaching Minister at Southeast Christian Church located in Louisville, Ky with over 22,000 in attendance every weekend. He’s a guest speaker for regional and national conventions around the country and regularly speaks for some of America’s most influential churches. He is author of several books including .

Extending God's grace
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