In focusing on helping others, sometimes we forget we need grace, too

This article is brought to you by Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo Region. Dueling Pianos will be back by popular demand Friday, Oct. 9, to headline the 2026 Scholarships for Student Success fundraiser at Ivy Tech Kokomo.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. in Hingst Hall on the Ivy Tech Kokomo Campus with the program starting promptly at 6 p.m. The evening will feature Dueling Pianos, dinner catered by Rozzi’s Catering, a cash bar, and a live scholarship “auction.”

Tickets for the Scholarships for Student Success are $50 each and may be purchased at https://link.ivytech.edu/2026kokomoduelingpianos or by calling Miriam Thomas of the Ivy Tech Foundation at 463-298-0925. Tickets will be available until Thursday, Oct. 1, unless sold out sooner.

I was driving down the road the other day and just happened to find myself behind a garbage truck. I watched as the truck picked up the last trash can on the street before continuing toward a stop sign. As I followed behind it, something caught my attention. Trash was flying out of the back of the truck.

Bags, wrappers, and other pieces of garbage were blowing onto the road and nearly hitting my car. And in that moment, I saw something much bigger than a garbage truck.

I thought about how the very thing designed to help keep our environment clean can sometimes become a source of litter itself. The truck is doing its job. It is collecting what others have thrown away, carrying it away so our streets and neighborhoods can be cleaner. Yet, even while doing that good work, some garbage can still escape.

It reminded me of grace.

Sometimes, we can become so focused on helping others become better, cleaner, stronger, and more whole that we forget we need grace, too. We can spend so much time trying to create a clean environment for everyone else that we forget there may still be some garbage in our own lives.

We are all works in progress. Just because God has called us to help others does not mean we have become perfect. Just because we are trying to live right, encourage others, serve others, or lead others does not mean we no longer struggle. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, a little garbage slips out.

And sometimes, unfortunately, the whole world sees it. But you know what? That’s okay. It doesn’t mean we have failed. It means we are human.

God’s grace is sufficient. We should never become so concerned with what others need to clean up that we forget to extend grace to ourselves and to them. None of us has it all together. Not Christians. Not non-believers. Nobody.

We are all carrying something. We are all trying to get rid of something. And every now and then, something may slip out for the world to see.

So, don’t forget grace. Because while we’re busy helping clean up the world around us, we still need to remember that there’s some garbage in all of us that only God’s grace can cover.