Karma

Definition of Karma: the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existences. 

It is a term some religions use to keep people in line...meaning "what goes around comes around"...if you do something wrong, it will come back to bite you. 

The thing that bothers me, is that many professing followers of Jesus seem to believe in karma. They make comments like "Karma's a bitch" when someone does something mean or wrong. I think they mean it will come back on them at some point, and they take comfort in that. But wait...aren't we supposed to be extending grace? The grace we were given, meted out toward others so that they can know how kind God is?

I guess karma comes from the principle of sowing and reaping. You know, the teaching that is given  before the church offering is taken. Therefore, if we sow a lot of money, we will receive a lot of money back. And if we don't we can expect financial ruin (kidding, not kidding, I've heard it taught).

I believe that grace trumps everything! I have watched God pour out blessings on people who have messed up so badly that if they reaped what they sowed theirs would be a horrible life. And honestly, I am thankful all the time that I have not gotten what I deserve, based on what I have sown.

In some sort of twisted way, we always go back to works, don't we? We believe in working hard to get what we want, like a farmer plowing his field and planting good seed hopes for a bumper crop. Yet even the farmer knows that ultimately his crop yield depends on the weather and other things which are out of his control. So there is a faith element there. God loves our faith.

I don't know about you, but I do the right thing mostly for selfish reasons. Because I can't live with myself if I do something mean or intentionally wrong. I think it would be very tiring to believe that God is keeping score of the good things I do, so I will "get" something good. Just as it would wear me out to think that if I do blow it, karma is gonna ruin me. 

If we believe that when we sow bad things we will "get what we deserve" that would also mean that if we sow good things we will get what we deserve...and of course we would "deserve" only good things, right? But what if that doesn't happen? I mean, good things happen to bad people, and certainly a lot of bad things happen to good people. 

So our "works" theory gets blown out of the water all the time...the water that Jesus walked on...to remind us that God is God and we are not, and He is doing something amazing and new in us and for us, always.

Which leads me back to grace. 
Every time. 
Always grace.