Grace isn't Cheap

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said ""Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate."  In a blog post I did a while ago, I talked about forgiveness not being cheap. similarly, grace is not cheap, either. So, why do we dispense it so freely? I know I have often thought being gracious meant just letting people get away with whatever they want, and I simply turn a blind eye, especially when it was being done to me. But, how does that help the offender come any closer to repentance? Sometimes the only way someone will change their behavior is if you firmly assert yourself and tell them how you feel. Actually, without a person understanding who God is and his work in their life, grace is not only cheap, but worthless. It would be like Christians counseling someone without mentioning Christ. If the Holy Spirit is the true counselor a without him we are nothing, then are we doing people a diservice by giving them a raw deal? Redemption is not possible without a redeemer. Grace is cheapened without emulating the one who bestowed it.