If Jesus saves us all, does sinning even matter?  
Or does one have to be a great sinner to recognize God's grace?

We are all sinners. There are some who perhaps do not even know the gravity of the sinful life they choose to lead. In faith, knowing how human and imperfect we are can bring us to a greater knowledge of God's grace and forgiveness. It is difficult to cooperate with God's grace until we fully accept our fragility and sinfulness.

Once we accept who we are, we are ready to understand and appreciate the grace and forgiveness of God. We are then ready to be loving if never perfect, trusting that Jesus is with us every step, like a prodigal father always welcoming us home each time we turn to him out of sorrow and true repentance.

Goodness is its own reward and evil its own punishment. Why would someone want to live an evil life? Is there joy and peace in that? Sinning does matter because it makes us unhappy and the dream of God is our happiness- here and now and forever with him in heaven. Richard Rohr writes: "Do we really have to sin to know salvation? Call me a "sin mystic," but that is exactly what I see happening in all my pastoral experience: Darkness leads us to light."

Blessed Julian of Norwich puts it well: "First we fall and later we see it—and both are the Mercy of God."