Three phases of a Life of a Christian

[Sushan Ekanayake]

"According to the author, there are three phases in the life of a Christian; Facing a crisis, Receiving grace, and returning grace to others."

"What is your opinion about this? Have you ever done it? Is it practical?"

Yes I absolutely agree with the author. Honestly I have faced crisis in life that was painful and thought the world had ended as a Christian which had been tough but I received grace (unmerited/undeserved favor) through faith in God by believing in the Word. I knew God loves us unconditionally and equally has good intentions for everyone and blesses all as long as we don't give up. This grace to some extent I do give it to others in the simplest ways possible I can like being a blessing to others through encouragement, motivations, monetary assistant where possible. I believe am not just favored alone but to extend to others too.

God helps you and makes you stronger, with the expectation of expressing His grace through yourself. That is why expressing grace to others is important

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I don't believe I have ever faced a crisis as described in the book and generally treat anything good happening as something that only happened cause the world was created, and I guess that's my grace. I also don't feel like I need a prompt to return grace, as that should be something you do without the push of a crisis.

That is a very important thinking pattern. You have everything does not mean that you have to be selfish as well. Being selfless makes you receive more and more grace

[Vicky-kooro]

I totally agree with the author on the three phases. That is Experiencing crisis, Receiving grace, and Returning grace to others.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

As the Bible quotes; Gods grace is sufficient for us.
It is normal for every Christian to face difficulties or crisis, but when we find our selves in such situation, Gods grace is needed to help us out. Then, when we are grace filled as Christians we can return grace to others in form of blessings.

God's grace is sufficient for any crisis. But you have to be patient and faithful to receive it. And then you have to return it to others as well

[Sushan Ekanayake]

As a Christian I have faced a lot of challenges in life that grace lifted me. One of my experiences was when I was facing issues with my grades in college. God sent me a helper as a friend. Someone who saw my challenges and helped out by constantly tutoring me. There and then my grades became better and I felt Gods grace working in my life. Later, I was also able to help others by passing across the grace and knowledge I had been bestowed upon.

That is the exact way that this concept works. God always help you via someone else. And when you help others, that is God's grace that you are expressing

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I believe the author is quite right in her perception about the life of a Christian. We are given crisis to help us grow as Christians, to help us practice living like Christ in a world that is filled with eartly temptations. By God's grace, we are given the necessary tools such as wisdom and strength and people along the way to help us overcome these crisis in our lives. And as Christians we are to give back or help others the same way without asking anything in return.

God's grace comes to us in many forms. In any form they all help us to ease our lives. By helping others, we become one of such ways in how the God expresses His grace

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I agree with these three stages as I am currently experiencing those phases. According to the author, you experience a crisis, a few years ago I did too and faced trying moments. Then I received grace and now I'm in the stage of receiving and giving that grace to others.

Those who go through hardships know the feeling of pain. So they definitely become the stage of giving grace to others

[Sushan Ekanayake]

As Christians there are times when crisis makes us question our faith. But when we choose to stand firm on God' word and promises, He gives us grace to go through it and come out victorious. We return the grace by sharing our testimonies with others going through crisis. And making them know that God's grace is sufficient for us.

Anyone can meet with situations where they tend to question their faith. But if you remain faithful, you will never be failed

[djr6090]

I think these three phases are accurate for those to whom it applies, but not everyone has faced a crisis that redefines or recenters their lives. There most assuredly are still ways to live life as a Christian and receive God's grace without suffering through some major life event first.

Just so, AmyMarie. What is an earthshaking crisis to one may be only day-to-day survival for another. Each of these stories shows how gratitude sparks a desire to do good. I think that can come from the small mercies in life as well as the challenges.

The impact of a crisis is a subjective thing. What should one have is the willingness to express grace to others, no matter in what quantity they themselves received it

I definitely agree with you, Suchan. That is the real challenge of inner faith, and possibly the hardest thing to do.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

Many times we face challenge and the grace of God has always made us overcome them. Manytimes the grace of God has seen be through difficuties in my life and i have returned the grace by helping others in need. Although i am still learning more ways on returning grace.

Though the God's grace is their always, many tend to see that when in crisis. There are numerous ways to return it to others and one has to find out what are his/her capabilities

[Sushan Ekanayake]

The grace of God began when he sent His beloved to die for us and has been available to mankind since then. Reaching out to God during of crisis is the best decision anyone can make. Returning the grace by sharing our testimonies with others who are passing through trials also helps them to reach out to God too.

When you cannot overcome a crisis by yourself, you have to turn to a more superior power, the God. After standing back, you have to help others to reach that superior power as well

[Sushan Ekanayake]

Three phases as regards grace. It's interesting because it brings out the subject of giving. Cheerfully giving as one freely received from God. Rescued from troubles of all sorts, struggles with sins, and in turn having a spiritually discerning mind that is filled with empathy and helping others not because of any merit but because of apparent need.

It is practical. Imagine if the entire human race had such an approach.

This is an important aspect the author brought up. Thanks for bringing it up again for discussion.

Yes, it is all about giving. No matter how small it is, but the receiver feels it in a several times magnified size. The world will be a far better place if everyone can develop this quality

Indeed, a better world.

If people are looking out for each other and helping the ones in need, what else the world needs to be beautiful?

[Sushan Ekanayake]

Grace is often seen similar to mercy but takes it a step further. With mercy, you forgive and let whatever happened go without a punishment. There is still the relationship side of the ordeal. To me that's where grace comes in. It's shaking hands and embracing the person who hurt you . It's showing love toward them even though they do not deserve it. You do not truly know love until you can turn the hurt and vulnerability into peace , joy, and love. For a Christian, the motivation for giving grace is from our grace-giver, Jesus Christ. He gave grace to us by showing mercy, forgiveness, and love when we did not deserve it. As Christians we are asked to show that same grace to others. To give Grace to someone is to give them undeserved kindness, love, and mercy: in fact, when they deserve vengeance and punishment. That is what Christ did for us.

Forgiving is the biggest grace that someone might be needing, and if you are capable of doing so, you show the God's grace to them via yourself

[Sushan Ekanayake]

Yes, it happens in a cyclical manner. And the order of the steps can be changed. These phases does not describe a whole life of a Christian, but giving others what they need is a more important fact in a Christian's life

I think the phases can occur in a cycle, but I also think they can easily blur together, occurring simultaneously. But that might depend on how long a phase lasts. If you can enter for a minute and then go back to another that has been developing over the course of a week, does second phase exit the other for that minute long process? Or does it not really matter for this Christian cycle?

This doesn't have to be a step wise process, and there don't have to be single process at a time. Many processes of these steps can run simultaneously and also steps can me mixed, repeated, etc.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I agree. I think that the author's outlining of these three phrases is quite powerful. A lot of people turn their backs on religion when facing a crisis, but as the author points out, crisis is both a part of the Bible and a part of life. It is your belief and your adherence to Christian practices that can help you overcome a crisis.

People tend to loose faith in their religions when faced with unbearable hardships. But those who remain faithful are shown grace and salvaged