Believers should consider themselves “trophies of grace,” chapel speaker says

Riverside, Calif. (Feb. 20, 2018) –The way Christians demonstrate love should reflect their redemptive story, D.A. Horton told the chapel audience at California Baptist University on Feb. 20.

“You should see new characteristics, new attributes and new ways of handling life’s situations. They should reflect the fact that the Holy Spirit lives inside of you,” Horton said.

Horton is pastor of Reach Fellowship located in Long Beach, California. He is also a chief evangelist for the Urban Youth Workers Institute, a nonprofit that trains urban youth workers to evangelize and disciple at-risk youth throughout the U.S.

Horton expounded on Colossians 3:12-13 (NASB): “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.”

Throughout your day, God gives you opportunities to show compassion and kindness toward roommates and classmates, Horton said.

“You need to extend compassion and grace to these individuals, because that’s exactly what God has extended to you,” Horton added. “People need compassion; they need to know that they are loved.”

Believers are also called to be humble, Horton continued.

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, humility is not considering yourself at all,” Horton said. “What it means to be humble is that I’m not going to force my agenda. I’m going to put the need of somebody else before my need in this moment.”

The Apostle Paul, writing in Colossians, urges believers to bear with one another and forgive each other, just as the Lord forgave, Horton said.

“This means to put up with others and love them through difficult times,” Horton said. “If during those times, they sin against us, we are to forgive. That is what Jesus Christ did for us.”

By granting salvation—a gift people do not deserve—God makes them “trophies of grace,” Horton said.

“That’s what it looks like to be God’s holy ones.” Horton said. “Jesus did all the work. Once He saved us, He puts us on display so that the world will look at the way we handle conflict, at the way we handle our life and say, ‘tell me the story of how you became this trophy of grace.’”