To be “Full of Grace”
As a young person growing up, I idolized Grace Kelly: actress, princess, and to me, pinnacle of beauty and poise. Alas, as time would most certainly tell, despite my great desire to glide effortlessly through life with her same poise and this perceived ‘grace’, it was not to be. My own clumsy tendencies left me with little sense of natural ‘grace’ that my idol seemed to naturally embody. Where did this leave me? I only had to look to our own Mother Mary, the true model: one that was literally “full of grace” as even the Angel Gabriel ascribed. But what does that grace mean for me today?
Mary has a beautiful example of grace for us as the children of God. Scripture shows her living a life that was full of joy but also full of pain. Yet consistently, she showed grace in her relationships: modeling humility, holy obedience, and most of all, love of Jesus. She lived a life ‘full of grace’ as she married Joseph, visited Elizabeth, and of course, parented Jesus, God made flesh, ultimately accompanying Him through his crucifixion and rising again.
Mary’s example helps me to be ‘full of grace’ in my own time, family, job, social circle and even in my own interior life. Her love for Jesus was her life’s focus and as an adult, I now wish to imitate Mary, Mother of God. I can remain my own clumsy self, but can still strive to love and serve others with humility, holy obedience and love as she did, so full of grace.
In what ways can you model this grace in your own life today?