Grace v. Karma

When you think about it, Karma actually makes perfect sense. You do something bad, something bad happens to you. You do something good...well you get the picture. Our human thinking has embraced this prinicple in our legal system, our schools, and our discipline of our kids. Paul even warned that "you reap what you sow" (Galations 6:8), but there is a fundamental and crucial difference in Christianity and that is grace.

Grace makes absolutely no sense. Grace goes beyond our Karma-like thinking of getting what you deserve. Grace does the impossible. Grace goes beyond justification. Because we cannot justify anything wrong we've ever done so therefore we are a prisoner to our past...until grace comes into the picture. Grace overcomes Karma. Grace does the opposite of what Karma is supposed to do by using justification and instead uses redemption.

Wrongs cannot be "righted." It's impossible. You can't go back in time and stop events from taking place and mistakes being made. So naturally by Karma's standards you are doomed to punishment. Without grace, you are a slave to your failures and condemned to face the consequences. But grace........overcomes Karma and removes the condemnation you were doomed to face.

Grace is not deserved. If it was deserved, it wouldn't be grace. It would be a prize, a reward, something deserved and therefore no one would have it. That's what makes it so unbelievably beautiful. To know that you are not cursed by your failures anymore and you don't even deserve it. How much love does our God have for us to completely wipe away our past records and completely go beyond our world standards to simply forgive and embrace us as His precious children. Grace is so amazing and it is so wonderful and the only reason I have a life now that has some sort of purpose, some sort of meaning, and some sort of fulfillment is because God loves me enough to completely disregard the complete piece of trash I was without any hesitation. If we as Christians wrap ourselves around this concept and around how much God does love us, then we probably wouldn't find it as difficult to share in his character and show that same grace to those that have been complete pieces of trash to us.

"Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs" (Proverbs 10:12)

I could probably write more on this topic. In fact, I know I have before on some old MySpace blog, or at least I think I did, but I just had some thoughts in my head that I wanted to get down and try and process. So please excuse the randomness of this entry.