Grace

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God”.   Ephesians 2:8 

Grace – In Greek – charis. Grace is a very familiar word to readers of the New Testament.  What may not be so apparent is the fact that this word comes from the same group as the words for rejoice, joy, give freely, bestow favor, bless and gift.  Those of us who celebrate the Eucharist actually act out one of the derivatives of this word for Eucharist comes from a Greek word of the same root as grace and means thanksgiving or gratitude. 

Paul made great use of the word for grace.  For him, grace was the joy of faith and the gift of the Spirit.  Paul relates the word to freedom and hope, both now and in the future.  Grace is the domain of God’s activity.  Not only does God bestow blessings upon us, He actually removes our transgressions by means of the gift of His Son.  God’s way with men is grace-full.  The highest expression of grace is the self-sacrifice of the worthy for the unworthy.  That is precisely what God has done for us to demonstrate once and for all His love for us. 

Recovery cannot begin or continue without grace. We who have been injured and who have in turn injured others through our behavior need grace for ourselves and for our victims and malefactors.  When we face our selves apart from God, we know that there is no grace in us.  It must come from outside.  And even when grace does surprise us with the joy of finally being forgiven of our past, we know that we cannot go forward without the grace of daily surrender.  Every moment is a gift.  This verse makes in abundantly clear that God is the great giver.  He overcomes what we could not overcome.  He makes life grace-full for us.