We Christians are not perfect.

We Christians are all sinners.

But the thing that sets us apart is our Faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. He came to Earth, was virgin born into a human body, and lived a sinless life. When His time on earth was done, he calmly offered Himself up to die on that cross. He rose up out of that grave three days later, and before he ascended to heaven, he visited his closest disciples and gave them courage with his parting words:

These words serve us, his followers, as our commission, instructing us to spread his message and His teachings throughout the world. And in his own words, the greatest commandment, the most important, is that we LOVE God, and LOVE our neighbor as we LOVE ourselves. We must demonstrate that LOVE of God and neighbor by helping our earthly neighbors – loving them.

And as today’s verse reminds us, it is by Grace we have been saved. No matter how many good works we do, we cannot earn our way into God’s LOVE. God’s LOVE is already ours, and His Grace is endless. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, taught the concept of three expressions of God’s Grace.

• Prevenient Grace, the Grace we receive even before we know we need it.
• Justifying Grace, the Grace we receive at the moment we ask for forgiveness.
• Sanctifying Grace, the lifelong work of the Holy Spirit, shaping us into the likeness of Christ.

No matter how hard we work to be good and do good things, we still can’t work our way into God’s precious Gift of salvation. The only way to that Gift is by faith in Jesus Christ. Only by faith in Jesus can we receive the free Gift of Grace – forgiveness for our wrongs, our errors, our sins! It is too beautiful to fully comprehend. God loves us – all of his human children – so much that he freely gives Grace before we even know we need it!

The joy of knowing this Gift should inspire us all to freely give of ourselves to help our fellow humans in every way we can. We should help, not as works to earn God’s favor, but as gifts to thank God for his unlimited Grace and salvation!

Thank you, Lord, for all your generous Grace! Help me to be as generous with my fellowman as you are with me. In Jesus’ name we pray. AMEN.

Today’s podcast was written and read by Bernice Howard.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.