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A good number of sincere followers of Jesus have unintentionally been operating under a functional—but reduced—theology that centers on grace as it relates to salvation. While this is important, coming at grace this way effectively limits the practical power and application of it in our everyday life with God. This limited understanding of grace dumbs down life with God; effectively, all the rich marrow is sucked from our spiritual bones.

Eternity starts here and now! Don’t miss it. Grace is so much more than unmerited favor. To receive the grace of God through Jesus means accepting that God has a boundless capacity of relational grace toward us as well as toward every other person we meet (and we all know we all need it!). Do you have a habit of looking at other people through this sort of generous, grace-based lens? Because of His capacity, God can honestly see each person as his most special and favorite, times infinity. No limits. Maybe we need new glasses?

If God has that capacity, and you and I are created in his image, then we each have the same potential to become faces of grace to others once we have responded to His invitation. When you and I encounter, experience, and grow in God’s relational grace, it will be reflected in our lives. Learning to see through the eyes of grace shows on our faces as we relate with the people around us. Today more than ever, this is the face and grace-filled vision that you and I need to reflect in the world. At the core, it will change how we do life in community—especially in our families, our small groups, and our close friendships. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, everything about how we view others changes in light of God’s grace:

Because of this decision, we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, and is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. (2 Corinthians 5:16–18, Message Bible)

God no longer sees us according to our old way of being . . . we are new creations! This translation underscores the bottom line: God settled it. Part and parcel to His grace, He says each person you meet is extraordinary—worth the life of His Son, in fact. His special and favorite, that’s you and that’s me. Get it, and everything about the way we relate with one another will change. At the risk of overstating the obvious, the grace you receive is meant to be shared . . . and don’t be surprised if, for some, it is their first genuine encounter with grace.

In my soon-to-be-released book, Beyond Becoming: A Field Guide to Sustainable, Transformational Community, you can learn more about sharing grace in your community. Stay tuned for more details about the May 1st launch!.