Of all the ways to describe the word gracious; courteous, kind, pleasant, elegant, tasteful, my favorite is “showing divine grace.”

I have heard it said that justice is receiving what we deserve. Mercy is not receiving what we deserve, but grace is receiving what we do not deserve. Please read this again.

God has not given us what we deserve. Because of sin we deserve the consequence of death. His mercy does not pronounce upon us the condemnation we deserve. However, the magnitude of God’s grace, demonstrated by His love, gives us what we do not deserve, a gift. Jesus took upon Himself what we deserved, so that we might receive what we did not deserve. This is the gracious nature of our Father.

If being gracious is about showing divine grace, then our leadership needs to involve giving others what they do not deserve. This has incredible life changing ramifications for leaders.

While we should always be courteous, kind, pleasant, elegant and tasteful, our true and lasting legacy should be remembered as giving others what they do not deserve.