I believe that we have a choice to extend grace wherever we need to. The Bible says that God's "grace is sufficient for us" (2 Cor. 12:9). It's not our grace that we give out, it's God's. And we have it because He's given it to us freely. So truthfully, although God may have called us in a different direction, to a new job, or to deal with someone we don't prefer, it's merely a choice to have a bad attitude, or to treat someone badly. All we have to do is ask God to help us, to give us strength and courage to rise up and extend His grace in places that need it. It's not just for other people, it's for our benefit as well.
When things don't go the way you expect them to, it's not the time to act like a child and throw a temper tantrum. It's time to go to God and be quiet and ask Him to show you what's going on. He is a Daddy that will give you peace and maybe even a clear answer... or He'll ask you to trust Him and to wait patiently while He shows you each step to take. The result is integrity and character and a reward of being able to show love in ways you never thought were possible.
The fact is, God has extended grace so freely to us through His son that we are super selfish when we don't extend that to others ourselves. It certainly doesn't make it easy all the time, but that's where prayer and meditating on the Word are pertinent. It softens the roughest edges and sweetens the bitterest of words. It makes pure the dirtiest of thoughts and intentions. It cleans, challenges and refines us. This is how God disciplines and takes care of His children. Proverbs tells us that God disciplines those He loves (Proverbs 3:12).
When you make a mistake, realize that discipline will come, but it's always gentle and never condemning when it's from God. He will point it out and surely it's not comfortable, but repentance is always the solution and He's always waiting with open arms for us to keep moving forward.
What an awesome God we serve that we don't have to live hard, mean lives. We can love and make mistakes and learn from them and move on. God is so good and so loving. He has never left us and never will. His grace is daily sufficient for us, and it's more than enough to pass out to others in all situations.
