As a Bible teacher, Gayle had taught for decades about the amazing power of grace in a person’s life. Yet it took a crisis in her husband’s life and the crumbling of her own life around her for her to have an epiphany about the true nature of grace. In Courageous Grace , Gayle chronicles and explains her newfound insights. Despite common misperceptions, grace is not safe. It’s not easy. Frankly, it takes courage to show grace to those who deserve less. Oftentimes, the person showing God’s grace gets counted among the sinners, just as Jesus experienced centuries ago. Gayle explores the story of Jesus forgiving the adulterous woman to reveal the courageous side of showing grace. We live in a society that vacillates between glorifying sin and crucifying those who fall. Gayle encourages us to take the road less traveled―daring to do the hard work of showing God’s grace to the sinners among us. It’s what followers of Christ are called to do. We talk about grace. But do we really know what grace is? From the earliest age, many of us are taught about God’s grace in our churches and Sunday schools. We sing about it. We pray for it. We tell others about it. And we’re tempted to think that grace is the easy part of the Christian faith. But in this book, Gayle Haggard points out eloquently that until our lives―and the lives of our loved ones―hang in the balance by the thread of God’s grace, we really don’t know how amazing grace is. Grace challenges the core of our characters and uncovers what we truly believe about God, about ourselves, and about others. When we face situations that demand grace, we soon learn that offering it isn’t taking the easy way out. Courageous Grace explores the extraordinary power and depth of grace. After reading this book, you’ll see the world and other people in an entirely different light. Your life will be transformed. COURAGEOUS GRACE FOLLOWING THE WAY OF CHRIST By GAYLE HAGGARD Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Copyright © 2013 Gayle Haggard All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4143-6500-8 Contents Introduction: Dear Reader.......................................................................xiCHAPTER 1 My Epiphany...........................................................................1CHAPTER 2 A Call to Courage.....................................................................11CHAPTER 3 Caught in Sin.........................................................................23CHAPTER 4 Why in the World Do Christians Sin?...................................................39CHAPTER 5 Our Fallen............................................................................51CHAPTER 6 Forgiving Fearlessly..................................................................73CHAPTER 7 Coming Home...........................................................................93CHAPTER 8 Who's to Judge?.......................................................................111CHAPTER 9 Marital Grace.........................................................................133CHAPTER 10 Family Grace.........................................................................145CHAPTER 11 Grace to Arise: The Ministries of Reconciliation and Restoration.....................161Chapter 12 A People to Call His Own.............................................................189Questions for Further Thought or Discussion.....................................................199Notes...........................................................................................205Acknowledgments.................................................................................209About the Author................................................................................211 Chapter One My Epiphany Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone! —John 8:7 ONE OF THE GREATEST TESTS of our character is how we respond when someone else errs. When other people fall short of doing what we and they know to be good and right, when they suffer loss or shame, or when they hurt us, how we respond speaks volumes about the condition of our own hearts. We may find that we possess tremendous ability to encourage others, to heal and restore, if only we choose to do so. Untold lives have been changed, reprobates have become saints, and cowards have become heroes—all because of the response of some kindhearted soul in another's moment of trial. An ex-convict becomes a benevolent mayor who employs the poor, rescues a dying prostitute, and provides for her orphaned daughter—all because an elderly bishop refused to press charges against him for stealing his silver and instead covered the thief's sin with kindness and protected him from his accusers. This elderly bishop turned the ex-convict's life around by encouraging him to become a new man and offered these kind words: "My brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good." By now you may recognize this as the story of Jean Valjean in V