I’ve quoted it, believed it, counted on it, and taught it. Jesus was “full of grace and truth.” Today, though, it’s resonating in a new way. Some people are full of themselves, full of baloney, up to their eyeballs in work, full to the brim with ideas, or have had it “up to here” with their kids/boss/neighbor. But Jesus? He was full of grace and truth. At the same time. If we’re to grow into Christ-likeness, logic tells us the same mix of truth and grace should be our lifelong goal. All truth and no grace is religiosity. All grace and no truth is misguided. It’s a beautiful, awe-inspiring, divine blend that warranted the description of Jesus in Scripture. It’s the same blend that sets a person apart in this truth-challenged, grace-challenged world of ours, one not all that different from the culture of Jesus’s time.
How does that change my approach to life? It’s what’s on my heart as I rehearse those words: full of grace and truth. Won’t it mean that every interaction—with friends, strangers, family, church family, store clerk, antagonist—should be firmly rooted in truth and gentled by grace? How does it change my approach to me? I failed again. Messed up. Spoke too harshly. I was impatient. Truth in me would have to agree. All true. Grace in me would forgive myself, be kinder to myself, and view myself through Jesus’s eyes.
Lord, may Your grace and truth never grow out of balance in me.
—Cynthia Ruchti
