Claiming Grace 2

The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to "inject" His kind of life and thought. . . into you; beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man. The part of you that does not like it is the part that is still tin.
3. The Tin of Abrasiveness-- Claiming the Grace to Respond to what I Encounter.
This type of grace has to do with our response to people. The tin in us tends to be abrasive, to snap back. But Paul instructs us that speech should "always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should responds to each person" (Col. 6). Our words should be timely, well-chosen, and tactful. Truth alone can be hard to choke down. Grace cushions our words so that the truth can be received without needless offense.
4. The Tin Compromise-- Claiming the grace to stand for what i believe.
When strenghtened by grace, we can stand firm against compromising our principle (Heb. 13:9). Our tendency to compromise stems from trying to appear as something we're not. Grace strips away the tin and helps us to be ourselves so that when we speak of our faith it rings true.
5. The Tin of Pride-- Claiming the Grace to Submit to what I Need.
Pride is the stiff, unmallaeble tin of our nature that keeps standing erect in the presence of God instead of falling down  prostrate at His feet. If that's our spiritual posture, we will walk away from His throne empty handed, because "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6; see also 1 Peter5:5; Prov. 3:34).