God has blessed us with the gift of life, but being the gentleman that He is, He lets us choose for ourselves what kind of life we want. He’s our heavenly Father and He knows what’s best for us, but He loves us enough to allow us to make our own decisions. Some people make the wrong decision, and fill their life with anger, condemnation, and defeat. Others choose wisely, deliberately filling their life with His grace.

Grace is the unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor that God has for us, and we feel its unmistakable power when we let it touch all areas of our life. It’s based on the finished works of Jesus instead of our own self-efforts, so we can have peace of mind knowing it’s available regardless of how often we “mess up” and make mistakes. Many people caught up in their own daily affairs completely miss this point, but some actually understand it. “So too at the present time there is a remnant (a small believing minority), selected (chosen) by grace (by God’s unmerited favor and graciousness). But if it is by grace (His unmerited favor and graciousness), it is no longer conditioned on works or anything men have done. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace [it would be meaningless]” (Rom. 11:5-6).

Grace is Jesus Himself, Who is the Word in human form. This is another gift from the Father, Who didn’t even spare His own Son to reconcile us back to Himself. “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast”(Eph. 2:4-5, 7-9). As born-again, grace-filled Christians, we have the same power in us that resurrected Jesus from the dead. This is definitely something the world does not have!

The spiritual discernment we receive as yet another gift from God makes it easy to spot the difference between those living by their own efforts and those living by grace. Believers have a highly noticeable air of confidence and security, a sense of peace and joy that’s absent in others. We have a light that can never be extinguished, something that others are desperately seeking. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matt. 5:14). Grace gives us the knowledge that if we died tomorrow and found ourselves facing Jesus checking the listings in the Book of Life, our name would be in it.

We look around us and see how much misery and defeat sin causes in others’ lives. What makes us different from them and sets us apart is our ability to achieve a sweatless victory over sin, through grace. “For sin shall not [any longer] exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law [as slaves], but under grace [as subjects of God’s favor and mercy]” (Rom. 6:14). The gift God offers to the whole world can turn a meager existence into a joyful, empowered, abundant life. The choice of whether or not to accept it is ours.