God, in His infinite wisdom, understands that we will never acquire a perfect understanding of His Word. Regardless of our educational achievements, constant and diligent Bible study, or endless hours in prayer seeking knowledge and wisdom, we will always misinterpret portions of His Word, sin beyond belief, and in general fall far short of complete obedience to His will.

We’re all familiar with finite human beings like ourselves, who deceive themselves into believing they have the innate ability to perfectly understand the scriptures, and are quick to condemn anyone not in agreement with their personal interpretation. For anyone not believing the previous statement, I stand as proof of one who thought you were wrong if you disagreed with my understanding of God’s Word…after all, I had a library of books written by scholarly members of my ultra-conservative persuasion proving I was right; if you disagreed with my belief-system, you were absolutely wrong.

Grace can be difficult to comprehend for many who still push the old Pharisaical belief that they alone possess perfect understanding. Grace is considered completely out of reach for those who refuse to march lockstep to a specific set of beliefs (often mixed with a lot of traditional baggage,) and even the smallest deviation from what they believe is not tolerated.

Realizing the power of God’s grace puts us in a better position to accept ourselves, and our brothers and sisters with whom we don’t always agree. When all Christians of every tribe understand they are far from perfect, and fall short of God’s glory, we will be able to handle disagreements between brethren in a loving manner, and still remain united in one body.

Sometimes it takes a long time to realize that God’s perfect plan fully realizes our shortcomings, and provides (through Jesus) a way out of our religious malaise.