“Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me”. It’s a song that I’m sure we’ve all heard several times, regardless of whether or not you grew up in church. It’s a song that we all just know, and have probably known since we were really little. But, there’s an issue. While God’s grace is absolutely amazing, these words misrepresent it. Some of the words in the song are talking about us as people. It describes God’s grace as amazing (which is true) while also telling you that you’re a wretch, which is basically another word for bad or despicable. But it’s not just this song that tells us this lie. All kinds of people from all over the world and in many different kinds of churches truly do believe that the reason God’s grace is so good, is due to how inherently bad us humans are. These kinds of ideas create a sense of worthlessness inside of people, maybe you’ve even felt it in your own life. But, this simply isn’t true. We aren’t wretches, and we aren’t bad. In fact in Genesis chapter one, God says the exact opposite. After creating humans, He watched us and declared us to be good. Not because we did anything special, prayed a prayer or went to a specific type of church. He said we were good simply for existing. Even after the “fall” of Adam (I think a better term for it is the wounding) God still didn’t see humans as evil or despicable. Regardless of our sin (misunderstanding of who we are or who God is) He still loves us, and He still has our backs. Jeremiah 31 talks about how God has loved us with an everlasting love and that He has drawn us to Himself. This means that we aren’t inherently bad or evil, but that we’re inherently loved and valuable just for being who we are. Gods grace is amazing, but not because we’re wretches. It’s amazing because of how much we’re valued and loved. Unconditionally, universally, eternally loved.