My Dearest Sister,
“Nobody’s perfect.” We are all very familiar with that phrase. Some people use it as an excuse to explain their behavior, but for others it represents a sad truth about the sinful condition of man. Sometimes it feels like no matter how hard we try to do the right thing and please Him, our humanity wins the battle. Our spirits are willing to be righteous but our flesh is so very weak (Matthew 26:41). If you’re at all like me, you probably wonder why God puts up with you. Well, the short answer is, we serve a very, very merciful God.
His mercy truly is amazing. Even though I deserve judgment and eternal condemnation for my sins, the Almighty God decided to pardon me. Even before sin is committed, His mercy is waiting to envelop the repentant heart. He is greater than my sins, your sins, and the sins of all those who confess and believe in His name. I like the way 1 Peter 1:3 puts it: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” I especially like this verse because it points out that God’s mercy is not a one-time thing. God’s pardon, which was made possible by Christ’s death and resurrection, did not only cover us once but gives a reassurance that is living; His mercy never expires, and through its restorative power, we are renewed in Him daily. So, even though sin and temptation sometimes win the battle, God, in His infinite power and abundant mercy, has already won the war for us.
Considering God’s abundant mercy toward us, why does it seem so hard sometimes for us to have mercy on others? As soon as we are offended, we have a tendency to judge those who have wronged us, sometimes without even knowing the whole story. We assume and “fill in the blanks” ourselves to determine if the guilty party deserves our pardon. But – fortunately for us – that’s now how mercy works; Mercy is given to the guilty in place of judgment even when it is not deserved, just as our Father shows us mercy every single day. So who are we to withhold mercy from others when it has been so freely given to us on such a grander scale? How can we, as a sinner, judge another sinner? We are guilty of wrongs just as those who have wronged us are guilty. James 2:10-12 tells us that if we sin but only once, we are still guilty of breaking the law and deserve judgment. In other words, we are not better than anyone else in God’s eyes, no matter how righteous we think we are. We all deserve the consequences of our sin, which is death.
I remember watching a story on the news several years ago about a man who was on trial for killing a teen girl in a drunk driving incident. The footage in the courtroom showed this guilty man expressing his deep remorse to the girl’s family, saying he didn’t expect or deserve their forgiveness. He was moved to tears, broken-hearted over what he had done. As the mother of the teen girl stood up to address the man, the courtroom was absolutely silent. I remember expecting to hear words of anger, deep sadness, and hatred. But, as she began to speak I was absolutely shocked. She spoke calmly, not as a distraught mother who had recently lost her beloved daughter, but as one human being to another. She said that she was not sure why God took her daughter away from her family on that night, but she knew that her girl was in a far better place now. She even expressed sorrow for the defendant, because she knew the guilt of what he had done would follow him for the rest of his life. And then she did something no one expected: She forgave him. The mother who was still mourning the loss of her daughter found it in her heart to show mercy to her daughter’s killer. What an example of Christ-like love this woman was! Even in the midst of her sorrow and deep emotional pain, she did not judge the person who had wronged her, but pardoned him of his sins against her family and gave him what he needed most in that moment: Mercy.
Whenever I remember this story, it always makes the reasons that I withhold mercy in favor of judgment seem pathetic. This woman so beautifully expressed what is written in James 2:13, “Mercy triumphs over judgment”. The whole reason Christ died on the cross was so that God’s mercy would be able to cover our sins. He took our place in the judgment and was undeservedly condemned to death so that God could pardon us: Just as Christ triumphed over the grave, mercy triumphs over judgment. When we withhold mercy from others, we stand in the way of a truth that is at the very foundation of our faith.
So, my dear sister, are you one who is quick to judge others and point the finger in blame? Or do you show mercy to your neighbor, pardoning them even when they have wronged you? A better example of the Father’s love would be to reflect upon those in our lives the abundant mercy He shows toward us daily. For some people, such as the drunk driver whom the mother forgave, it may be their first glimpse of God’s love for them. And while it may not always seem an easy task to show mercy to those who have sinned against us, it becomes far easier when we remember the abundant mercy God has shown toward us and the living hope that is with us daily because of it. Truly, mercy does triumph over judgment!
Your humble sister in Christ,
~ Lauren