最近，我很意外地收到朋友送來的一份禮物，但我不認為自己有資格收到這麼好的禮物。她送禮物給我，是因為聽說我正面對一些工作上的壓力。其實她所承受的壓力與我一樣多，甚至可能更多。她要照顧年邁的父親、教養叛逆的孩子，還要面對不斷變動的工作環境，以及緊繃的婚姻關係。我沒想到她自己在困境中仍顧念著我，她這種先人後己的態度，以及這份簡單而真摯的禮物，讓我不禁感動流淚。

事實上，我們都領受了一份絕不配得到的禮物。對於這份禮物，保羅是這樣說的：「『基督耶穌降世，為要拯救罪人。』……在罪人中我是個罪魁」（提摩太前書1章15節）。雖然他「從前是褻瀆上帝的，逼迫人的，侮慢人的，然而[他]還蒙了憐憫」，並且「主的恩是格外豐盛」（13-14節）。復活的耶穌使保羅對這份白白得到的恩典有了深刻的理解。結果，他醒悟了，因知道自己得到了一份不配得到的恩典，他成為上帝的重要器皿，向人傳揚上帝的愛，告訴許多人上帝為他成就的一切。

唯有藉著上帝的恩典，我們才能得到慈愛而非咒詛，得到憐憫而非審判。今天，就讓我們來慶賀上帝賜給你我這份不配得到的恩典，並竭力傳揚且活出這份恩典。

When my friend gave me a gift recently, I was surprised. I didn’t think I deserved such a nice present from her. She’d sent it after hearing about some work stress I was experiencing. Yet she was going through just as much stress, if not more, than I was, with an aging parent, challenging children, upheaval at work, and strain on her marriage. I couldn’t believe she had thought of me before herself, and her simple gift brought me to tears.

In truth, we’re all recipients of a gift that we could never deserve. Paul put it this way: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst” (1 Timothy 1:15). Although he “was once a blasphemer and persecutor and a violent man, . . . the grace of our Lord was poured out on [him] abundantly” (vv. 13–14). The risen Jesus gave Paul a deep understanding of the free gift of grace. As a result, he learned what it meant to be an undeserving recipient of that gift and he became a powerful instrument of God’s love and told many people about what He had done for him.

It’s only through His grace that we receive love instead of condemnation, and mercy instead of judgment. Today, let’s celebrate the undeserved grace that God has given and be on the lookout for ways to demonstrate that grace to others.