Speak and act as those who will be judged by the law of freedom. For judgment is without mercy to the one who hasn’t shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 2:12-13
I used to read the old testament and think, "Man, God is mean! I fear Him alright." That belief about Him kept me from wanting to know Him more. That unhealthy fear of Him prevented me from trying to form a relationship with Him for years. I was a Christian for at least 10 years before my mind was changed and I was scared to tell that to anyone for a long time. But then I realized that every one of us has believed some crippling lies at one time or another and no one learns the truth without mercy.
Regardless of what some preach, we are under the law of freedom and we have entered a new covenant. But we have a hard time accepting change, don't we? I believe it takes meeting the overwhelming kindness of God to help us see ourselves through His eyes. Those eyes of mercy impart a profound, one-of-a-kind courage. That courage leads us to take risks, "stepping out of the boat". Little-by-little, we come out of our shells as we begin to trade condemnation for the gentle, yet fierce, mercy of God.
Our focus changes to that of our loving Creator and because we're so distracted by Him, we stop worrying so much about getting it right and nose dive directly into freedom- the freedom to serve Him without all the rules, lies and opinions that once held us down. So when we get it wrong, we know that there is grace for us. We we get it right, it's because of of grace as well. Serving Him is so much easier when we aren't carrying the extra weight.
Knowing and experiencing God changes us. Once we know the mercy He has for us, we're prone to offer it to others. Then we get to play a part in helping others towards freedom as well. But when we choose judgment over mercy, we miss out on seeing the Kingdom come to Earth. We can't stop mercy; we can only choose whether to play mercy or judgement. Which part will you play?
No comments:
Post a Comment