“Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”Matthew 6:11-12

Let’s imagine for a moment that you loaned something valuable to someone, and they ended up destroying it. If you said, “I want you to get me a brand-new one,” that would be justice.

But let’s say that you dealt with them in mercy instead. You said, “You don’t have to get me a brand-new one. I forgive you.”

Then again, let’s say that you dealt with them in grace. You wouldn’t insist they give you a new one. Rather, you’d buy them their own and then take them out for dinner, too. That’s an example of grace, which is God’s unmerited favor.

The Bible tells us, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8–9 NLT).

Why do we need God’s grace? Because we sin every day. We sin more than we think we do. In fact, the Bible says, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth” (1 John 1:8 NLT).

Yes, sin is when we think a lustful thought or we lose our temper. But sin also can be when we say no to the Lord’s promptings to read His Word or pray or share the gospel with someone. It’s knowing what we should do but not doing it.

So we need God’s grace every day. Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us” (Matthew 6:11–12 NLT).

Just as surely as we need daily bread or provision from God, we need daily forgiveness as well. That’s where grace comes in.