Three phases of a Life of a Christian

[Deborah kalu]

Receiving Grace happens to be one of the best gifts a Christian can receive.
This comes after salvation and Holy Ghost spit impartation.
Once a believer receives grace, he is charged for any crisis and can also impart people's lives.

Do you said "once a believer receives grace, he is charged for any crisis"??hmmm,this is what some Christians don't want to hear. They always want it very sweet and smooth.

[Ariely 20]

Even as a person who was introduced to God early in life. It is during difficult times that i have come to a much deeper relationship with God. I don't completely agree with the 3 stage concept but i know anyone who experiences grace always feels the need to share with others.

[AntonelaMaria]

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?

It is a great question but there is a lot to unpack here. I have to admit that the definition of crisis can be very subjective from one person to the other. Also do we get just one crisis? How do we measure it?

I think I have received grace in a form of answered prayers but I have to say I am still learning how to give it back to others. Or I am not doing it as it is mentioned in this book. It seems to me that here everything is described in huge extremes. There is a lot of stories here that are of people going through this huge pain and then switch their life for 180* . I don't know I haven't experienced life in such way yet. My connection with my religion was never that shaken , sure I had moments of doubt or distance but never in extreme way.

This is why the word grace is very powerful.never experience some of this rough experiences in the book in an extreme way??, Is nothing but grace. Not because of your connection with your religion.for God show mercy to whom he choose to show mercy.the story of psalm in the bible is a very good example.Despite all his shortcomings God still call him the Apple of his eyes.isn't that amazing??

Yes, it is amazing. I agree the power of grace is great.

[AntonelaMaria]

These phases mentioned here are not rigid. I mean, like the last comment, the grace of God comes in many ways. It all depends on what your challenge is. God's grace can come in the form of a breakthrough for one who is in dire need of help. It could also appear as a solution to a critical problem. Or simply an answer to a question.

I think this very well explained. I agree. Maybe we at times are not even aware of receiving a grace.

[AntonelaMaria]

Even as a person who was introduced to God early in life. It is during difficult times that i have come to a much deeper relationship with God. I don't completely agree with the 3 stage concept but i know anyone who experiences grace always feels the need to share with others.

I struggled a long time with that part of turning to faith more in times of need then every other time. I come to realize it is purely human in me. I think that these three stages might be considered a little less rigidly too.

[Becccccca+98]

I think the three phases are fairly accurate. A few years ago, my brother was in a bad accident that badly damaged his face. He had a 50/50 survival rate. Thanks to God's Grace my brother was saved. We then shared his story in the church, as a testimony to encourage others and give hope to the hopeless. Overall, I think that these phases are pretty accurate but at the same time I think that it differs from person to person. I think this is because some people are more comfortable with sharing God's Grace, where as others are not as comfortable yet.

[Amy Murdoch Coleman]

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.

[Reubeney]

I think one may go through crisis and never realize or understand God's grace in his/her life. So I wouldn't advocate on the fact that it is through crisis one will find God's grace. Finding God's grace can be attributed to just accepting or believing in His grace no matter the circumstances at that particular moment.

[edztan15]

It makes sense, though maybe we can already share grace to others even if we aren't in those 3 phases yet?

[Susmita Biswas]

In my opinion, this is absolutely practical if someone truly wants to do it. We only think and talk, but never try. I'm not a Christian, but I think this is the absolute positive way of living.

[Samgum50]

I think the author was right. If you really think about it, it really comes down to those three things.

[Ellylion]

It's a very interesting concept. I would say that the ability of returning grace to others is really important and, yes, it works.

[sirbobthewise]

Not everyone finds God as a result of being in crisis. I dedicated my life to God as a child and I grew up in a Christian home. I have never faced any of the horrible situations that the people in this book faced. I have had my ups and downs in life, but my life has never been in ruins. When I was growing up and people would come to our church with flaming testimonies, I always felt like my testimony somehow wasn't as powerful. But as an adult, I think living a life close to God with a grateful heart demonstrates God's grace as powerfully as finding God in a crisis. I am grateful for the life God has given me.

Yes! I think that God uses all kinds of circumstances in order to draw people to Him; I don't think it necessarily has to be a crisis, as the author focused on. So, I agree with you that I don't necessarily agree with that first step of his. Or perhaps, the word "crisis" can just be taken wider. I think that it may take some form of internal crisis, or rather, a realization of need to bring us to Jesus. Even those who have the amazing (and so, so beautiful!) story of being saved young and growing up a Christian, I think, must have reached a point where what they had didn't cover what they needed, and that it was only through Christ that that need could be fulfilled. Perhaps that could be a form of "crisis," as well. Just some of my thoughts, though, because I do believe that first step was lacking a bit.

Thank you for sharing a bit of your story here!

[sirbobthewise]

I think one may go through crisis and never realize or understand God's grace in his/her life. So I wouldn't advocate on the fact that it is through crisis one will find God's grace. Finding God's grace can be attributed to just accepting or believing in His grace no matter the circumstances at that particular moment.

I had a similar thought when I was reading the book. Experiencing a crisis doesn't necessarily mean that you WILL realize God's grace, but I think the author has a point in saying that it's often the darkest times that we are more aware of God and more likely to call out to God. Therefore, in those times, we may be more likely to realize His grace.

While that doesn't mean we can't experience more of God during good times, there is something about those hard times that we realize that we don't have what it takes to make it on our own. And so we often turn to the One who does. During good times, I think it's at least easier to think that we're actually doing okay and that we've actually got this. It oftentimes takes a crisis for us to realize our true weakness and His true strength. However, I totally agree that God uses any kind of circumstance to reveal His grace; it just requires our eyes to be open (and that's actually quite difficult sometimes)!

[sirbobthewise]

It makes sense, though maybe we can already share grace to others even if we aren't in those 3 phases yet?

This is a really interesting thought that I think I will spend some more time with! I think what the author intends, though, is to emphasize the "likelihood" of being able to give grace. I think we are more likely to be able to give grace once we have received grace (1 John 4:19 idea), because then we know more of what it looks like and we are more desirous of wanting to extend that grace to others. Likewise, after we have received grace, I think we also just have more space for others. In some ways (in my own naive thoughts), I feel like receiving grace is like being healed (or starting the journey of healing once you initially receive and accept the grace of God). You may have to be healed to some degree yourself before you can begin the journey of helping other people with their healing. If not, then it's easier to burn out. That's just a thought, though.

Something else that popped into my head in regard to the formatting of the phases is that, probably, we go back and forth between phases 2 and 3 throughout our life, too. There are certainly times when I need to take a step back and re-align, reminding myself, with the fact that I am under God's grace (so that I can be fueled up properly to help others).

I think the author intends for these phases to be thought of as helpful guidelines rather than the rule. It's good to ask those kinds of questions, though, for sure! So interesting!