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As Paul led and taught the churches, one theme that came up time and again was grace. In order to grow as leaders, I believe it is very important that we grow in grace.

Sometimes our wrong ideas of grace get in the way of receiving and giving true grace. It is too easy to confuse grace with permissiveness. As a supervisor, I may feel that holding someone accountable to deadlines and responsibilities is opposed to grace; that because of grace I must always say, ‘It’s okay.’ But is that how God deals with us? Is that what Paul teaches and models? 

Biblical Grace

Biblical grace is freely given, but it is not free. It is costly. It cost Jesus His life. It is the opposite of saying ‘It’s okay’ when something is wrong. Instead, God’s grace confronts sin in order to overcome it.

Biblical grace is humbling. We understand that we cannot earn God’s favour. We all rely on God’s grace because none of us is perfect (Galatians 2:21, Romans 3:23-24).

Biblical grace makes us grateful and holy. Realizing that God has freely given us what we can never earn—love, salvation, adoption, and a calling in His kingdom—leads us to live and work with gratitude. We strive to do what pleases God, not out of fear or punishment or trying to earn His favour, but because we are grateful for the grace we’ve received (Romans 6:14-16).

Giving Biblical Grace

Giving biblical grace to those we lead means holding people accountable:

  • Quickly. Like getting an injured person to the clinic right away, grace cares about the person enough to deal with a concern as soon as it arises. Our goal is to help the person flourish and succeed.
  • Humbly. When we confront, it is with the knowledge that we also fall short and need grace. Humility also leads us to listen well, rather than assuming we fully understand the situation and the person’s intentions. For example, if someone has not met a commitment, a gracious leader does not assume they were lazy but asks questions and listens; perhaps they had a sick child or family emergency. 
  • Consistently. Paul was patient with the churches, often writing the same things again and again, confronting sins and wrong beliefs, and reminding them of the sort of life God had called them to. Leading with grace means patiently addressing areas where growth is needed and being clear and consistent with our expectations. 

Receiving Grace

Although Paul taught about grace in all of his letters, we know that it wasn’t always easy for him to receive grace for himself. When he was confronted with his own weakness and limitations (probably due to eye problems), he begged God to take it away. I’m guessing he may have thought something like this: If only God would heal me, I could do more ministry, train so many more churches, write better letters, travel more…! But God’s response was, ‘My grace is sufficient for you’ (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). Like Paul, we all have limitations and weaknesses. As leaders, we will sometimes fall short. If we are willing to receive it, God’s grace is sufficient for each of us.  

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