Grace

I've spent a lifetime trying to understand grace. So far, I'm stumped. But then again, that's usually not too hard to do for me. It seems to me that people either kind of get it or they don't. It' s the difference between freedom and have to. And it changes everything.
Paul talks about grace often. He uses Romans as his jumping off point. Then he uses Ephesians to unveil more of his description of grace. He calls it "his glorious grace." (Eph. 1:6). He talks of forgiveness of sins by saying it is in "accordance with the riches of God's grace." (Eph. 1:7). Later he says, "It is by grace you have been saved. (Eph. 2:5). He once again calls it the "imcomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus." (Eph. 2:7). And once again, just for emphasis in the same passage, he says, "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God..." (Eph. 2:8). What's your point, Paul?
I was once told by an elder than we can preach too much about grace. Huh? Tell that to Paul. It was one of his themes. He, if anybody, truly understood it.
When we understand grace, it makes us look at others differently. We're not as harsh on them. We give them the benefit of the doubt. We extend grace to them. When we understand grace, we see God differently. We see His benevolence and His love. We fall on our knees in gratitude for what He has done for us. When we understand grace, we see ourselves differently. We try harder to please God. Not because we have to, but because we want to. It changes our motivation from fear to love. It gives us a positive outlook on life.
When we don't understand grace, we become legalistic. We follow the rules, and then and only then, God will give us grace. We see no room for mistakes in us or anybody else. When we don't understand grace, we think we are to work as hard as we can to earn God's approval, then He'll take care of the rest. Kind of like we don't have quite enough to pay the bill, but God steps in and takes care of the shortfall and the tip. But you know what? That's an extremely shallow (and wrong) view of grace. God paid it all. The meal was on Him all along. And there is nothing, nothing I can do to earn any part of it. Praise God!
Grace is kind of like God's love to me. It seems as if Paul tends to describe it in the superlative as much as possible. And I'll never understand it. But I will accept it. Have a great day. JW.

P.S. There is a gorgeous snowfall going on right now. We've gotten another 4 or 5 inches. More snow. More white.