Religion can be negative to many, who would perceive it as moralistic, judgmental, and even condemning. In short, to many, religion has the connotation of rejection.

If you are sinful (as a matter of fact, we all are), you may not want to come to God, thinking that God is moralistic and will punish you for your sins. You may get the misconception that you must be good enough in order to be acceptable to God.

All sinners experience brokenness, emotional pain, as well as despair and despondency. For some, they may perpetuate their sinfulness because they simply cannot bring themselves to believe in a power greater than themselves that could give them hope and strength to turn around. Without salvation, they might as well continue with their sinful lives.

It is important that we reject the sinful behavior, but not the person who acts out the behavior. Unfortunately, in real life, many of us have the tendency to blend the two into one: we often associate the behavior with the person. In this way, we become moralistic and judgmental, knowingly or unknowingly. The individual who indulges in the sinful behavior perceives our moralistic attitude or that of society, and may therefore become more adamant and reluctant to change for the better.

This is where God's race comes in. Jesus is not moralistic. In the parable of the prodigal son, the father is not moralistic and judgmental, and he throws his arms around his returning son, while his other son is moralistic and self-righteous - Jesus does not approve of that moralistic attitude and behavior; on the contrary, Jesus wants us to do just the opposite.

Jesus wants us to understand the true meaning of God's grace. He wants us to know that God's grace is God's unconditional love with no strings attached. A moralistic attitude becomes a piece of string attached to that love, which then becomes "conditional."

It must be understood that our moralistic perceptions of God stem from our own sinful nature. It is like a child who knows he or she has done something wrong and now stands in trepidation before his or her parents. But by God's grace, we are not only totally forgiven but also given the opportunity to begin anew. We are provided with hope and promised meaning of life and living. God's grace not only mends but also renews our relationship with God. Through God's saving grace, we see our own powerlessness in the face of adversities and temptations. Once we believe that our lives are in a power greater than ourselves, we begin to regain our sanity or to see the meaning out of the chaos in our lives.

The word "grace" has significant meaning for our relationship with God, with our own self, and with one another. Grace is God's love, which is all-embracing and all-inclusive, and totally unconditional. It means God is showing us the way, the truth, and the life as God would like us to live. Through grace, God comes to us and reveals Himself to us, because we cannot by ourselves find God, or even come to know Him and believe in Him as He really is - we cannot do this by our human effort. We need His grace, which is freely given to all just for the asking.