Macaila Britton reflects on the meaning of grace, for Woman Alive magazine.
I am privileged and blessed to say I grew up in a safe, loving, Christian home. I went to a Christian school, attended Vacation Bible School over the summers at my local church and was able to speak about the Lord freely with my Christian friends. Part of growing up in the church means I’m accustomed to hearing phrases, verses, stories, and more about the Bible and faith. “Have grace” was a popular one in our church world and it wasn’t until the beginning of 2020 where I began to understand the truth this word embodies and the weight of it.
Let’s begin by breaking down the word- the meaning of it and the significance. The word “grace” is spiritually defined as “the love and mercy given to us by God”. The supplemental part of the definition is the significance- “God desires us to have it, not necessarily because of anything we have done to earn it”. It’s important to recognize grace was given to us. From the beginning of time, when God created us and the first humans sinned, he extended grace. He strengthened this and transformed the meaning of eternal grace when He sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”-Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)
Ephesians 2:8 reflects the “gift of God” and there is nothing we have or ever can do to earn this favor. Each and every day God chooses to extend grace to us because He loves us. God knows we are sinful. God sees when we choose to snap at our loved ones, when we sleep in and miss church, how we may gravitate towards the ways of the world versus His- yet still, he loves us and chooses to show us mercy and accept us as his children. While there are extremes for the reasons in which God shows us grace, I hope that we as a community, as humans, can remember just how precious this gift is- it is far greater than any vacation, new tech gadget, etc. Grace is the gift we use and can seek daily.