We all have different battles. We have different sins. But when you really think about it, our hearts are alike. We all have one thing in common: the need for Jesus Christ and his grace.

One way Webster’s Dictionary defines grace is unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification. Allow me to define that for you in the redneck version.

Grace is God favoring us when we don’t deserve it. 

I’m reminding myself of this as I write. I don’t deserve an ounce of God’s grace. I have done so many detestable things in my life, I’m surprised He didn’t wipe me out a long time ago. I’ve stolen. I’ve lied. I’ve been drunk. I drove drunk. I’ve had premarital sex with multiple men. I’ve done drugs. I dishonored my parents. I’ve used God’s name in vein. I’ve watched pornography. I’ve overeaten more times in my life that I care to admit. The list goes on.

Oh yeah, and I’ve been in a relationship with another woman.

I’ve got a rap sheet a thousand miles long, and yet that one  word, grace, still washes over me. It’s mine to take – a gift from God.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9

Paul, the writer of Ephesians, and a man whose mission was once to destroy the name of God, wrote these powerful words. Paul may never have dishonored his parents, slept with another man, or smoked pot in his van before school in the mornings, but he did murder multiple Christians. His actions deserved death, yet what happened?

Jesus Christ met him on a dirt road, knocked him off his horse, and gave him the best gift any of use could ever receive, grace. 

So, if grace was given to Paul, me, and your grandma Estelle (I don’t know anyone who has a grandmother named Estelle, but I loved the Golden Girls, so it just made sense to go with that), then isn’t this gift available to everyone who pursues a relationship with Jesus?
 I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below…