About Rehabilitation and Grace

Rehabilitation is man's way to allow someone to undergo restoration to return to normal lives. God's way is through His grace accompanied by His mercy and unfailing love.

Sometimes a person rehabilitate in prison for his bad choice of lifestyle. Others may rehabilitate in a hospital for their illnesses. Drugs and alcohol abusers may seek help at certain support groups or centers providing such services. The obvious reason is because these people wanted to return to a normal life.

Salvation is the beginning of a rehabilitation plan, a program initiated by God. Salvation is the beginning of God's grace working in us in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's God's plan in His wonderful grace at work in metamorphosis from the sinful Adam to the sinless Christ. God's grace is patient and merciful in His unfailing love. God's grace in the Holy Spirit will continue to live in us until we are totally transformed. God's grace promises results that His seed will bear fruit for His honor and glory.

When Billy sought accommodation in my home, I welcome him without the slightest hesitation. Billy, just released from rehabilitation from a drug center has nowhere to go. I was the only good friend on his mind when he walked out from the center. He assured me he had changed. He has been a drug abuser for more than twenty years. He had hope that by living with me, he could stay away from his habit. More important, he hope that he could live in the presence of Christ with me.

Old habits die hard. A leopard never changes its spots. A wolf in sheep's clothing. These are some of man's opinions, unkind remarks and perhaps condemnation when we retort in anger and frustration because a certain person didn't really complete his repentance. We failed to be great shepherd for the Almighty God when we failed to exercise patience, self control and unfailing love over those God gave us to look after. We forgot that its God in Jesus in the Holy Spirit at work through us.

After twenty years undergoing rehabilitation, Billy occasionally sneaked off for his old habit. A friend who caught Billy in the act reported to me and asked me to rid him from my home for fear of any harm to my children or theft of my things. I smiled at my friend whom I understood was concerned for my family's safety by explaining to him about how wonderful God's grace was at work in our lives. I explained to him that grace is allowing a person time to repent. If God's grace were to stop working, then all of us will be going to hell. Grace is at work until it accomplished its purpose in us for our heavenly Father.

Perhaps we have forgotten that the cross was our Father's plan to rehabilitate us? Perhaps we have forgotten that we are all equal before the Almighty God; we are merely sinners. Without God's wonderful grace, we are but just a piece of filthy rag. How sad and sorrowful that we have forgotten that it was grace that saved the wretch in us. How sad and sorrowful that instead of allowing God's grace to work in us to accommodate a sinner's repentance, we pronounced judgement on them.

The reason why Jesus kept reminding us to forgive and love each other is because as it encouraged us, it also helps us to grow His grace in us.

We must ask the Holy Spirit to help us overcome our weaknesses like anger, bitterness, resentment, jealousy, unforgivingness to prevent evil from breeding. Our weaknesses are fertile grounds to breed evil. Hence, God's objective in gifting the Holy Spirit to us was to help check and halt our new life from degenerating.

God's grace represent forgiveness. Jesus taught us to forgive those who sin against us seventy seven times seven times a day. Are we allowing God to live in us in the Holy Spirit to help us do that everyday for those who sinned against us? Are we patient like our Saviour to allow grace to work in our repentance? While we want grace to work in us, are we allowing grace to work through us?

We must allow God's rehabilitation plan to help everyone repent in His grace.