Grace Appearing
READ
Today, as the world prepares to celebrate Christmas, Paul's words to Titus remind us that grace isn't just an abstract concept or a theological term—grace has appeared. Grace took on flesh. Grace arrived in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, announced by angels to startled shepherds.
Let’s take a moment to read Titus 2:11-14:
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
REFLECT
The grace of God appeared. Not as a distant principle or a vague feeling, but as a person. Jesus is grace personified, walking among us, touching lepers, eating with sinners, forgiving the unforgivable, and ultimately giving Himself to redeem us from all wickedness.
But notice what Paul says grace does: it teaches us. Grace isn't passive; it's formative. The same grace that saves us also shapes us, instructing us to turn away from destructive patterns and to embrace lives marked by self-control, uprightness, and godliness.
This is where the incarnation becomes deeply personal and practical. When we receive God's grace—when we truly grasp that Jesus left heaven to rescue us—it doesn't leave us unchanged. It transforms how we live. Grace doesn't just forgive our past; it empowers our future.
Think about the shepherds on that first Christmas. They were ordinary people doing their ordinary work when suddenly grace appeared to them. And they didn't just stay in the fields, marveling at the experience. They went to Bethlehem. They found the child. They spread the word. Grace moved them to action.
The same is true for us. When we encounter the grace that appeared in Jesus, we can't help but be changed. We become, as Paul says, "a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." We're not just forgiven; we're transformed into a people passionate about living differently.
As you prepare to celebrate Christ's birth, consider what it means to live as one who has received grace. It means we extend to others what we've been given. It means we forgive because we've been forgiven. It means we serve because we've been served. It means we love extravagantly because we've been loved extravagantly.
Tomorrow, when you wake up to Christmas morning, you'll be surrounded by the sights and sounds of celebration. But underneath all the gifts and gatherings is this profound truth: grace has appeared. And that changes everything.
You're not the same person you were before you encountered Jesus. You've been redeemed, purified, and made part of God's own people. You belong to Him. And now, you have the incredible privilege of living out that grace in the world around you.
Grace doesn't just save us for heaven someday; it teaches us to live godly lives right now, in this present age, while we wait for Jesus to appear again. We're between two appearings—the first when grace arrived in Bethlehem, and the second when glory will return to make all things new.
You are a recipient of grace, a student of grace, and now an expresser of grace. The grace that appeared to save you now appears through you to reach others.
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
As you prepare to celebrate Christ's birth, how will you live as one who has received and now expresses the grace that has appeared?
In what areas of your life is grace teaching you to say "no" to ungodliness and "yes" to godly living?
Who in your life needs to experience the tangible grace of God through your words and actions this Christmas?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
Jesus, thank You for being grace in human form, for appearing in our world to redeem and transform us. As I celebrate Your birth, help me to live as one who truly understands the gift I've been given. Teach me through Your grace to turn from what harms and embrace what heals. Make me eager to do good, passionate about expressing Your grace to everyone I encounter. Amen.