Do you receive the grace of God properly? 1 Corinthians 6-8

2 Corinthians 6:1-10 (NASBStr)

 And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain — for He says,

“ AT the acceptable time I listened to you,

And on the day of salvation I helped you.”

Behold, now is “ the acceptable time,” behold, now is “ the day of salvation”—

 giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well- known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.

This is a long passage to quote in a devotional.   The point is to see how Paul defines what he is asking us to do.  In verse one of the above passage Paul tells us to "not receive the grace of God in vain."      He then goes on and says, "for" and explains what that means.   When we receive the grace of God through faith we have to remember that God has given us a gift.   If we receive it in vain we mis-use, mis-appropriate, mis-appreciate the gift.   In the subsequent verse of the text Paul tells us that when we receive the grace of God in the right way there should be the same evidence he has experienced in his life.   Notice the non-complimentary areas that Paul is stressing.  Enduring in  "hardships" and in "beatings" are put in the same context with in "patience", or in "knowledge" or in "kindness".   Paul let's us know that receiving the grace of God comes with many different looks.   We receive it in the "power of God" and we receive it in the way of "evil report and good report."   When we receive God's grace we will have a variety of paths to follow.  All of them are different but all of them are within the scope of His grace.