The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. Psalms 103:8
Mercy is more than just mere kindness since in encompasses at least some measure of forgiveness, compassion and possibly even pity. In other words, it is kindness that is not deserved or earned and that could be withheld by the one giving it. It is sometimes challenging to be kind, but it is even more against the nature of the flesh to be merciful. Kindness can be rewarding in and of itself and can be shown without a lot of sacrifice. On the other hand, to show mercy always costs something.
When you have been wronged or slighted in some way, the natural response is justice — you want the person to pay for the wrong they have done. But as a Christian, you know about mercy because of how the Lord has treated you and how good He is, even when you do not deserve it! What a wonderful example of mercy we have in the Lord, when you consider that everyone has sinned and turned aside to their own way. Everyone has missed the mark of God’s holiness.
And what is the Lord’s response to your lack of perfection? He is merciful and gracious. Some days you may feel you are right where you should be with the Lord and other days could be just the opposite; sort of like Adam trying to hide from the Lord in the Garden! On those good days you may be expecting the heavens to open and to hear the Father’s voice declaring how pleased He is with your performance at that moment. Then, just when you feel you are on top of the mountain with the Lord, something happens or someone does something to bring you back down to the valley of less-than-perfect followers of the Lord.
Dealing with others’ imperfections can be frustrating and can try your patience, especially when someone is doing the same thing wrong over and over and over again. Peter even asked Jesus how many times he had to forgive someone and offered what he thought was a very gracious and merciful number; seven. Jesus put things in perspective with a parable after telling Peter to forgive seventy times seven, representing an infinite number of times to forgive — and that was just for one day’s worth of forgiveness!
In the parable we see ourselves and our tendency to be unmerciful in contrast to the Lord’s abundant mercy toward His children. Parents many times struggle to be slow to anger with children, expecting them to be as perfect as they are, forgetting at times that they are still children and not yet at the same level of maturity as their parents. Fortunately for us, we have a heavenly Father who remembers that we are mere dust and is slow to anger. Praise God for His patience!
Take the challenge today to seek, with God’s help, to follow in Jesus’ steps in your relationships with those who do not deserve your kindness. Choose and decide to be slow to anger, remembering the Lord’s patience toward you. Decide to be gracious toward those who cannot earn your favor and to show mercy for the sake of restoration even though you could demand justice. You owed a debt of sin you could never pay and Jesus paid a debt of sin that He did not owe — just for you. Choose to be like Him, abounding in mercy!
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One response to “Abounding in Mercy”
I remember one Sunday driving to church ( it took me 30 min to drive their so I had time to think) I was very angry at the members because missionaries had come to help us remodel and no one came to work. I was going to hit them hard with my sermon. When I got to the church i reached for the door handle when the mercy of God came all over me and God said “love them”. All my anger left me. The mercy of God. How wonderful it is.