Grace Wholesaler

Phineas Bresee, the man who founded our denomination, was called a grace wholesaler. How many people would say that about members of our denomination now? Yes, we are called unto holiness but holiness means to be like Christ. That does not just mean "to be without sin" The Bible already makes it clear Jesus was the only one "without sin". Jesus doesn't focus on us not sinning, his focus was on us loving God and loving each other. What does loving each other require? Grace! We are imperfect people and we need to give each other grace in our shortcomings. Also, we need to remember in our quest for "holiness" that God has more grace than we can ever use up. Now before you write me off as an abuser of grace, listen for a sec. God wants to be in relationship with us. That is his main goal. He loves us and knows that is what is going to fulfill us. However, when we are willfully living outside his will, our relationship is strained, and it's all our fault. God is not waiting with his bully club, or even a sigh of disappointment. He is simply yearning for the day we see the errors of our ways and come back in relationship with him. He doesn't hold his expectations over our heads and shake his head when we fail, but he does live in expectation of a relationship that is deep and real and rejoices when that relationship is going strong.
So I am in no way advocating sinning with the attitude that "God will forgive me later" but I am completely advocating an attitude that forbids me from beating myself up for sinning. God is not doing so, so why should I? God uses our guilty conscience to convict us many times but feeling guilty is not the same thing as shame. Grace is from God, shame is a devil's lie. Shame says, "Hang your head, you've blown it and God is ashamed of you. You only get so many chances and you may have blown the last one. If it's not the last one, you're at least wearing the ice thinner and thinner, you better be careful that God doesn't get sick of your messing up." (etc etc) How do I know that's what shame says? Because I used to live with shame. Alot! One of the downfalls of growing up in a "holiness" denomination is a child can easily misunderstand and think if they don't meet the standard of "no sin" than they are not doing something right. Grace has to be emphasized just as much as holiness or it gets lopsided very easily. Is it any wonder our teens learn early to put on a facade of "holinesss"? I learned early, I knew all the right answers, the right way to dress and the right way to live (outwardly). I probably look more rebellious now than I did then but I am closer to God now more than ever no matter how I look on the outside. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be anyway? Doesn't God look at the heart?
I could go on and on all day and probably should because I don't think I explained it as well as I should, but I'm not going to.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound...