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"The Need for Grace"Most of us have a tendency to be pretty hard on people. We disapprove of the way they raise their kids, spend their money, worship, and entertain themselves. Not too long ago I was criticizing someone in my thoughts for purchasing what I considered an ostentatious house. Ostentatious because it was much nicer than mine, I suppose. Later that same day I was accosted in Home Depot by someone who felt my house was too “rich” for a minister. Apparently she felt I should live in a single-wide like hers. And we really come down hard on a brother or sister who falls into sin. When that happens, I have to remind myself of three things: One, I have no idea how hard they struggled to resist this sin. Perhaps they were victorious a thousand times and fell this once. It’s possible. Second, I do not know what kind of pressure they were under. If I only knew the full magnitude of their desperate circumstances I might have greater compassion. And third, I don’t know how well I would done in the same situation. Perhaps I might have capitulated more quickly than they did.Jesus, of course, warned us to be careful about judging others. The Apostle Paul put it this way: “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ: (Romans 14:10).In other words, my brother is going to answer to God for his sins—not me. And I’ll be answering for plenty of my own.When the small son of our friends realizes he is in trouble with his parents he plaintively appeals—“I need grace.” Same here. I need grace. From God and from you. And I have to keep reminding myself that you need it just as much as I do.