Mercy

Often those most guilty of not forgiving are those within the church itself. Jesus struggled against the religious leaders in His time because they were eager to condemn. They would condemn those without sin, and did so famously when they worked furiously to ensure Jesus would die on the cross. Jesus knew what was coming in His life, and He had good reason for speaking these words in Matthew 12:7:

“But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.”

This verse speaks to many of those who call themselves saved today. We sometimes get twisted, and think being Christian means we have to give up certain things, and condemn those who do not. This is far from the truth. Christianity was formed by the astonishing forgiveness Jesus offered us on the cross, and we are to follow His way. We are not to condemn. Christ desires mercy.

Mercy is a refusal to condemn someone who deserves to be punished. It’s forgiving someone who doesn’t deserve forgiveness. That’s what Jesus did for us. He showed all of us mercy when it was His right, and the right of the Lord, to condemn us to eternal suffering for all our sins. The death of Jesus was the greatest act of mercy there’s ever been, and yet we think we can condemn someone because they didn’t buy any candy from our child’s fundraiser? We think we can condemn someone because they cheated on a test, had sex before marriage, drank some alcohol, told a lie about us, or read a Harry Potter book? Some things may be wrong, but all things are not our place to condemn. If those we condemn sinned the sin was against God. He will deal with it. We don’t have to. When we try we open ourselves up to many types of sin. Pride, gossip, wrath, being judgmental, and so many other sins can easily emerge from an eagerness to condemn. We condemn ourselves.

Remember who it is that had mercy on you. Remember Jesus, and walk in His ways. Show mercy.