As athletes and coaches we are, by nature, very competitive. We strive for perfection and are driven by the desire to succeed. Applying that same attitude to our walk with Christ can be extremely frustrating. No matter how hard we try, we will daily fall short of God’s expectations.

The above verse refers to our salvation that comes by grace through faith. I believe that understanding God’s grace is not only important in our salvation, but it is critical to a healthy, growing, daily relationship with Christ. A line from the Rich Mullin’s song “If I Stand” says, “If I stand let me stand on the promise that You will pull me through, and if I can’t, let me fall on the grace that first brought me to You.” I always tell my players before a game that bad things will happen and that how we respond to those bad things is what makes the difference. The same thing applies to our walk with Christ. As we strive to walk as Christ did, we will continually have bumps in the road. Do we let those setbacks frustrate us and lead us to more setbacks? Or do we fall on God’s grace and let Him cleanse us and restore us? God’s grace is truly amazing, and we need to live in it moment by moment.