What does grace look like?

I asked God, “What would it look like to extend your grace to myself? What would life look like if I gave myself grace?”

I remember laying on the couch feeling extra pregnant and tired, boys were napping and I had a mile long to do list and a youth group coming over for bible study that evening. I looked at the Christmas tree and heard a voice inside say, “That tree is beautiful. Good job. Look at all those clean clothes you have for your family (three huge baskets waiting to be folded.) Good job. Rest dear one, the boys are sleeping.”

Tears. Tears thinking about it. Because that’s how Jesus would talk to me. And it’s so far from how I talk to myself. My voice inside my head I use to scold myself or make myself feel guilty all the time is so unpleasant. And if I lived life with that kind of grace it would be a beautiful thing.

I saw someone post on facebook the other day, “Grace gives way for truth.” How true is that statement! The truth is is that I am loved and delighted in by God, and when I withhold grace from myself (because God sure isn’t) I am unable to accept the truth, unable to see it. The truth? I am loved. I am delighted in. Crazy as it sounds, He is proud of me.