Strong spirits: summer grace

Ever done something you knew was wrong, got caught, and then got forgiven without any further repercussions?

That's grace.

I mess up all the time, in one way or another. Usually, there are consequences, something I need to do to put things right. And that is fair. But sometimes, there is grace. Sometimes the offended party forgives. Sometimes, the mess gets cleaned up by someone else. And those are incidences of grace.

The biggest giver of grace in my life is God. I mess up with him all the time. Call it what you will. I call it sin. And try as I might to stop, I just keep sinning.

But God in his mercy gives me grace and forgives my sins. I don't deserve it. I can't do anything to achieve it. It's just grace.

"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." (Paul the apostle (Ephesians 2:8,9)

We all need God's grace. And he offers it to us. We just need to receive it.

Besides serving as pastor at Caledonia Congregational Church, Gary Schwerin is the Spiritual Development Minister for the YMCA of the Rock River Valley and Executive Director of Bridge Ministries of Rockford. Prior to launching Bridge Ministries, Gary spent many years in leadership with Young Life. His columns appear here every Sunday - to see them all, subscribe to our daily email.

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