Grace Notes: When Feelings Get Feet

Dear reader,

Today, I've been wrestling the difference between love and grace. It started when I was reading this morning from 2 Corinthians and John, and suddenly, these words hit me differently.

I used to think love was just a feeling, something warm and fuzzy inside. But now I'm understanding it's so much more. Love isn't complete until it becomes something real, something you can actually touch and experience.

It reminds me of something that happened last week. I saw a homeless man near the coffee shop, and I felt this surge of compassion. But feeling sorry for him isn't enough, is it? True grace would be buying him a meal, giving him a warm jacket, actually doing something that makes a difference.

That's how I'm starting to see God's love. It's not just this abstract concept floating somewhere in the heavens. It's active. It's personal. When God's love moves from being a feeling to an action, that's grace. Jesus is the perfect example of this—not just talking about love, but living it. Sacrificing everything.

The Bible says the law came through Moses, but grace came through Jesus Christ. It's like the difference between having a rulebook and actually experiencing transformation. Rules tell you what to do. Grace shows you who you can become.

I'm realizing grace isn't something passive. It's dynamic. It reaches out. It transforms. It takes what could remain distant and makes it intimately personal.

I want my love to be like that. Not just a sentiment, but an action. Not just a feeling, but a force that changes things.

Still processing all of this. But it feels important.

Until tomorrow

Chaplain Mark