Grace

December 7, 2016 - By Aaqila Ward

Christmas is no doubt my favorite holiday and I’m so excited that it is rapidly approaching. I love gifts! I love to give gifts, receive them, dream of gifts that will never happen haha…you catch my drift. I love this season because gifts are given from the heart, from love. Gifts are not given because you have necessarily done something deserving, but because you are loved. In December, we celebrate the greatest gift of all. We are reminded of the best gift that came from love: grace. Jesus is grace in the flesh.

You might recall from an earlier blog or from my bio that I am a preacher’s kid. LOL – I know right. Growing up in church, being labeled a goody two shoes and always striving to do the right thing, I thought I didn’t need grace for my salvation and relationship with God. Grace is simply receiving something that you do not deserve. Well, I just knew I deserved my salvation. I mean, I did the right things. I lived morally right. I read my Bible and volunteered at my church. I’m good right? Grace is for the “other people.”

Matthew 20 tells a parable of the laborers in a vineyard. In this story, there were workers that began early with the landowner and many other workers that were accumulated throughout the day. When it came time for the workers to be paid their wages, the workers that started in the morning complained that their wages were the same as those who just began in the evening. You see, the workers thought they deserved more.

This is my testimony. I was that worker. I thought I deserved more. I began this Christian journey early in my life. My works have proven that I am faithful; therefore, I am deserving.

Well, have you ever been slapped in the face by the truth of God’s Word?

Yeah, that happened next.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says , For it is by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works so that no man can boast.

Thankfully, I realized that it didn’t matter who I thought that I was or what I have done. I have the opportunity to have receive the best gift ever because of God’s grace. This is a humbling truth. Ego and pride are stripped away and in the presence of God, I saw myself a filthy rag on my best day. This truth is not highlighted to make us feel like crap. It is here so that we can be reminded that we are nothing without the grace of God.

Maybe you have the opposite of my pride and you felt undeserving. The good thing about God’s grace is that it applies to those that feel undeserving in the same way. We all need it. Your past, your present and your future do not determine your grace qualifications…it’s a gift.

Now, with all gifts, there are two parties, the giver and the receiver. God has given us the gift of grace. Are you ready to receive?

Grace is for everyone. Grace is for me.