1529) I have mentioned many times in these minute devotions that grace is a subject I struggle with. It’s easy to say, Yes, I understand grace. It’s receiving something good when I deserve bad. Though I struggle a lot with understanding why God offers this to me, I also struggle with what grace implies.

If those who do not deserve the goodness of God are offered grace and they receive it, doesn’t this give a “blank check” sort-of-speak to do whatever they want? It seems like this is what will happen if we model our lives around Romans 12:21. In this verse, Paul tells us evil can be overcome by goodness. THIS is what I struggle with.

There is so much evil in the world and even in the circles in which we live. If we choose to do good toward the people who produce the evil, isn’t that reinforcing their behavior and attitude? I do evil. I am treated with goodness. I guess I’ll keep being evil. See what I mean?

Perhaps there is another facet in this idea I have not considered. What is evil? Oxford Languages defines it as, “profoundly immoral and wicked.” Whew! That leaves me out of that category. Yet, Oxford also reveals that evil is “embodying or associated with the forces of the devil.” This definition encompasses mankind. Anytime we make a choice not to obey God, we are choosing the opposite, following in the footsteps of Satan, and when we make this choice, God still chooses to overcome our “evilness” with goodness: Grace.

God communicates to us that we can overcome evil with goodness. He did this with us and we are to offer it to others. If every follower of God did this, our world would not be such a dark and evil place.