When one comes to Christ they are saved by grace. The grace that God gave us by sending His son Jesus to die for our sins. (John 3:16 & Titus 3:7)

Although we may be saved by this grace it becomes a reality check as we live in this world. You may be saying what do you mean by this statement? I’m just saying that yes we are saved by the grace that God has extended to us. Are we extending that same grace to those who are not saved? It’s easy to be nice and act “Christ like” to those who are nice to you, but when someone does something offensive to you what do you do? How do you respond? Do you get your feelings hurt? Do you get mad, get even by reacting like the one who has not even a clue about the knowledge of Christs perfect love that covers a multitude of sins? (1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.)

Am I saying that we are immune to this world and all of it’s sin? No, that is not what I’m saying I am purely stating that how we react to them could mean whether we are able to lead someone to Christ.

Whatever you are doing there is always someone there who is looking at you waiting to see how you respond, even when you don’t think there is. As we work with kids at Power House we are constantly in a place where we may be able to pick up an offense. We need to always keep ourselves prepared by keeping in the word of God and surrounding ourselves with ways to detour the offenses and pray for those who are acting out in a way that is harmful to others and themselves. Speaking the truth in love sometimes can be hard to do, but it is necessary, especially when dealing with a new convert.  Some who are not Christians and others are waiting to see how we may react are looking at you as an example as a leader.

Boundaries are sometimes difficult to establish but are necessary and healthy for you and those who are trying to “push the limit”. This is very evident when dealing with children. Dr. James Dobson talks about this in “The Strong Willed Child” Dobson states that when you give a child boundaries it makes the child feel safe and loved. This can also hold true for adults; Think about it, if you had came out of the restroom at a public place with some toilet paper on your shoe would you want someone to tell you or would you want to drag it around all day? You’re probably saying to yourself, “what’s that got to do with boundaries?” It’s like that though if you let someone behave badly you’re letting them do something foolish and your not letting them know that you care how they act you’re letting them drag around toilet paper on their shoe! I mean you are enabling them to continue in their bad behavior and not helping them grow as individuals or as Christians if they have received Jesus. (Ephesians 4)

God’s word tells us that offenses will come and that we are not wrestling against flesh and blood.. we are in a world full of sin and offenses we need to keep our eyes on Christ and filled with His Holy word…what we fill up with is how we will react so keep in the word to live right in the world.

Ezekiel 3:18-19