Grace and Personal Responsibility

If you spend a significant amount of time serving those experiencing poverty and other adverse circumstances, chances are you will feel unappreciated at some point. The extent at which you continue to serve someone despite their lack of gratitude is considered grace. My personal belief is that service and grace are some of the most central, if not THE most central, concepts in identifying our true purpose in life. With this said, I have personally experienced several instances of how giving too much grace can do more harm than good. The other side grace is personal responsibility. If a proper balance between grace and personal responsibility is not maintained, conflict arises.

With life being so unpredictable, grace is sometimes needed. What happens when an employee who is always prompt comes to work 10 minutes late because there was a serious wreck on their route to work? Are they going to receive disciplinary action, even if they call and notify their supervisor they are going to be late? Chances are, their supervisor is going to give them grace. What if a single parent loses their job and despite spending all of their free time doing what it takes to secure employment, is unable to provide for their children without receiving assistance? Grace is given through government assistance programs and charities. By no means, should any of these actions of grace become a permanent or long-term solution. However, these circumstances are a reality in the lives of many and grace is needed to get these individuals back on the track of personal responsibility.

On the other hand, economics tells us that there is a limited supply of raw materials and resources to sufficiently meet the needs of every human being living on Earth. Consequently, we are charged with the responsibility of maximizing what we are given. Take the instances discussed in the last paragraph. If an employee has a history of arriving to work just on time or a few minutes late, their employer is going to most likely tell them that they should leave earlier in the morning to account for possible delays; or, if the employee who always arrives to work promptly does not notify their supervisor of the delay, their supervisor will most likely cite the employee for not giving advanced notice of the delay. If the single parent is not spending their time submitting applications, seeking training opportunities, and other efforts to secure the income that is needed to provide for their family, how long should assistance be provided? In other words, how long should someone be provided assistance if those helping the single parent provide for their family are working harder to provide for the family than the single parent?

As you can see, it is extremely difficult to reach a balance between grace and personal responsibility, especially when we are not always given access to others’ thoughts, perspectives, and motivations. I contend that it is humanly impossible to maintain a perfect balance between grace and personal responsibility, and that the only way to come close to this perfect balance is to have a personal relationship with Christ and to look to Him for guidance on a daily basis.

#adversity #personalresponsibility #service