How Do You Spell Grace?

How Do You Spell Grace?

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

Ephesians 2:8

Once a mother took her little girl to a lesson with Edgar Degas, the French Impressionist painter and sculptor. While they were there, the mother reproved the little girl for making mistakes in her spelling.

“Why do mistakes in spelling matter?” the child protested.

“Why do they matter? Because they do, and it is very naughty in a little girl to make them, isn’t it, Monsieur Degas?”

Peering sideways at the mother, he responded appropriately, “Very naughty.”

Then, when the mother had left them, Degas said to the child, “Which would you like best—to know how to spell or to have a box of candy?”

“Candy!” cried the little girl without hesitation.

“Well, so would I,” replied Degas. “But if you were to have to ask for candy in writing, and if you could not spell the word candy, what do you think that would mean?”

“Well, I guess it might mean that I would get something other than candy.”

“I see,” said Degas knowingly. “So do you now think that mistakes in spelling matter?”

“Oh, y-e-s!” said the little girl seriously.

And so it is with other things in our lives. They become more important to us when we understand why they matter. For instance, it is extremely important to understand God’s grace, and yet many of us don’t “get it.” We understand it intellectually, perhaps, but not really with our hearts.

Then one day we come to understand that we are saved because, through his Son, God has given us his undeserved favor, and the importance of grace becomes primary in our lives.

So let me ask you, how do you spell grace? I spell it J-e-s-u-s.

Thank you, Father, for saving me from my sins through your wonderful grace and love. I would surely be eternally lost without them. Amen.