The perfect balance and combination happen to be uniquely opposite but create perfect harmony. Salt and pepper. Shark Girl and Lava Boy. Pretty and witty. Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins. The list goes on. But grit and grace is the pair that moves your heart. It is the pair that you automatically win with. It is the hand with two aces, nothing can compare.

There is no obstacle that true grit and amazing grace can’t overcome.

Grit determines that life challenges will neither defeat us nor define us. It is the toughness, the courage, the bravery, the spirit deep down in our souls. It is the backbone, the steel nerve and whatever inspires you to keep fighting. Your grit is where your perseverance meets your passion. They collide to create an uncontrolled fire in your eyes.

Grit is the self-propelled gust of wind that gives you the unexpected push when you are standing still, not knowing what is next. It’s rugged, tough, firm. It can surprise us. It gets the obstacle done and inspires one to overcome the next. A two in one. It is not merely hard work, a work ethic. It is the motivation and inspiration that sparks the hard work and work ethic. Grit is a creator

Grace is freely given favor and mercy, a sense of generosity and kindness, moral strength, a favor even when it is not deserved. It is a love that keeps on giving; that doesn’t require context or your past. It is an undeserved, unmerited, unearned favor. It always turns heads, drops jaws and leaves people in awe.

What is more classy, more powerful, more extraordinary than showing grace towards someone that, in your eyes, doesn’t deserve it. It will take you far. It will get you places hustling cannot. God has given us a prescription to receive grace. Give grace. Live grace. Repeat.

“It’s what everyone groping around lost in the dark has to know: Turn towards grace and you turn on all the lights.”

Grace wins every time. God’s grace; it is His grace that allows us to go on. He gives us grace even though we do not deserve it. We are broken. He overlooks it. He sees our heart, our soul. He looks past the sin, the cracks, the messy and gives us His grace and forgiveness. All in all, we strive to bear the exact image of God.

He gives us grace, so why can’t we show others grace. We experience His grace every single day, so we should know what it looks like. It is time to imitate this loving act to the faces who we see every day.

“Shame says that because I am flawed, I am unacceptable. Grace says that though I am flawed, I am cherished.”

Grace is stunning. Grit is powerful. Together they are unstoppable.

Grit and grace change everything. One, over the other, makes one strong. But holding grit and grace in each hand at the same time is what makes history. Obliviously, we use our grit and we receive grace every day.

It is a practice. Holding both at once is something worth working on. Grit and grace are meeting the moments on the journey and then picking ourselves back up.

It changes everything. It’s something worth far more than rubies. It a pair that creates astonishing harmony, unified and unstoppable.

We don’t know what happens next, but we have to step forward with grit, anchored in grace.