At my Wednesday night Bible study, the teacher made an out-of-left-field observation that I’ve been thinking about ever since. Basically he said that we can’t really define the word grace because it’s really not a natural human virtue.

At first, I thought about all those neat little acrostic ditties like grace is God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. I also remembered grace as unmerited favor. But the more I thought, the more I realized that those don’t so much define grace as describe it.

We can’t really define it because it’s so much beyond us. It’s a God thing, and like so much about God, it goes beyond our capacity to understand or categorize or define.

We understand concepts like karma because they are man-made. We came up with the idea that if you do something bad, something bad happens to you. Basically, you get what you deserve — end of story.

But we can’t define grace because it defies our logic. Why would we celebrate not getting what we deserve? Why would we cheer for something we didn’t earn?

I know for me the more I understand what I really do deserve and not what I think I’ve earned, the more I love grace. The more I realize that I’m not good — that no one but God is good — and that what I’ve earned and deserve is death and hell, the more I know I don’t deserve grace but crave it just the same.

I see that when a lot of people talk about karma, they want it for someone else. I don’t want anyone else to get karma because I know I don’t want it for myself. I know deep down what karma would bring me (if karma were even real), so I choose grace for myself and for everybody else. I want grace for you because I need grace for me.

Grace is what got me out of bed in the morning. Grace is what got me through another day. Grace is what will lay my head upon the pillow tonight. And yes, that amazing grace will one day lead me home.