Wasted Gifts & Wasted Grace

Over my 41 Christ-following years, the parable of the Prodigal Son is one that I grew up hearing on a regular basis. It was almost always taught from the standpoint of the prodigal son, the son who left with everything, the son who wasted his lavish gifts from his inheritance and the son who still found his way home to his loving Father.

While that part of the story is very true there is another side that is also very true that we don’t hear about as often. There are always two sides to a story, right? The other side is the legalistic, Pharisaical, graceless brother part. If I’m honest, or truthful, as this post is meant to be, I’m more like that legalistic brother most of the time. I play by the rules, finish my tasks, I’m on time, I fulfill my commitments even if it kills me, I do my best to tick all the boxes and not just any boxes but just the right boxes, and I’m usually shocked when others don’t do the same. It’s quite exhausting actually. In my adult years, I have realized that this is just a tad unrealistic. While I have learned so much about the amazingness of grace over the last few years, I’m still a work in progress.

The quote in the image above is taken from this spoken word video. It’s worth your time.

We waste our gifts. We waste our gift of time, our gift of love, our gift of provision, our gift of health.

We waste our grace. We waste the grace that is given from God. We waste the grace that is given from others. We waste our opportunities to give grace.

Whether we’ve wasted gifts or wasted grace, THE TRUTH IS
that the Father never wastes gifts or grace.
He longs to welcome us home.

I’m not writing from one who has this down but from one who is on the journey. Working it out. Trying.

~Andrea

If you’d like to read the Parable of the Prodigal Son, you can do so here. Luke 15:11-32