“[God] canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14 NCV).
Each of us blows it from time to time. The Christian life is a guilt-free life, but it’s not a mistake-free life. The Bible never hides this truth. It is painfully honest about the failures of its heroes. God saved the world after a flood through a man named Noah—who then got drunk and naked, and blew it all. Moses led the children of Israel through the Red Sea and into freedom—yet his anger kept him out of the Promised Land. The Bible tells the story of King David, a man after God’s own heart—who then had an affair and arranged the murder of the woman’s husband so he wouldn’t be discovered. God realizes our frailty. If God only used perfect people, the Bible would be a pretty short book. In fact, he has a solution for our failures: grace. The Bible says, “[God] canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14 NCV). If you look at all those failures in Scripture, you get a clear picture. Each of us—just like those heroes of the Bible—are trophies of God’s grace. Your primary witness to the world around you isn’t all the great stuff you do for God. It’s how you handle mistakes you’ve made. Do you mope or do you revel in the grace of God? People want to meet a God who turns failures into triumphs. People want to meet a God who can transform broken lives. The amazing part of God’s grace isn’t just his power to forgive. It’s the strength he gives us when we start over. It’s the strength God gives us when we become trophies of his grace.
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“[God] knows what we are made of; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14 GNT).
Your failures don’t surprise God. He expects them. He knows what we’re made of—because he created us. The Bible says, “[God] knows what we are made of; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14 GNT). God won’t stop loving you when you mess up. The central message of the Bible is this: God doesn’t love you because of who you are or what you’ve done but because of who he is and what he has done. God made you. He loves you. It’s settled. You can’t make God love you more. You can’t make God love you less. He loves you just as much on your bad days as he does on your good days. His love is not performance-based. The Bible has a word for this: grace. And it’s absolutely amazing. God looks at you and says, “I choose to love you. And you can’t make me stop loving you.” Even when we’re ridiculously bad, God won’t stop loving us. It truly is amazing grace. When you realize his grace, you can relax about your failures—and have the confidence to take more risks. You may have gone to God multiple times for forgiveness on the same issue. Maybe you’re not sure you deserve his love and grace. (You can settle that now. You don’t.) And you’re convinced that God has grown tired of your constant efforts at change. (He hasn’t.) God never tires of a conversation with you. He’s never too busy. No matter how many times you go to him for forgiveness, he’ll be waiting with open arms. You may have grown up in a home where conditional love was the norm. Your parents’ affections may have been based on your academic, athletic, or social successes. When you failed in one of those areas, you felt the loss of your family’s love. You can relax. That’s not how God deals with you. The Bible says, “[God] canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14 NCV). The Christian life isn’t a mistake-free life, but it can be a guilt-free life. God understands your failures—and he loves you anyway. That’s God’s amazing grace! “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful” (Proverbs 28:13 TLB).
We usually think of failure as something negative. But wise people know how to take advantage of it. They learn from it. They use it as an education. Failure is one of the primary tools that God uses in your life to make you what he wants you to be. How can failure be good? God uses failure to educate us. Mistakes are simply learning experiences. Some lessons can only be learned through failure. The Bible says, “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful” (Proverbs 28:13 TLB). If you’re not making any mistakes, you’re not growing or learning. If you’re not taking any risks, you’re not growing. The freedom from the fear of failure is the freedom to grow. God uses failure to motivate us. “Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways” (Proverbs 20:30 GNT). Often we change when we feel the heat, not when we see the light. When you fail, God may be trying to get your attention to move you into a new direction. God uses failure to build our character. “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character” (Romans 5:3-4 TLB). Failure has a way of softening our hearts. It helps us grow up and become mature. It makes us more sensitive to others. It makes us less judgmental and helps us be a little more sympathetic to people around us who are hurting. Failure doesn’t automatically grow your character. Failure just makes some people bitter. But failure builds your character when you respond to it correctly and learn from it. “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7 NLT).
Jesus says in Matthew 5:7, “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (NLT). In other words, what you give, you’re going to get. You’ve got to learn to be a minister of mercy if you want God’s blessing on your life. But why does God want you to show mercy to others? Why is being merciful so important? Because God has shown you mercy. Ephesians 2:4-5 says, “God’s mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great, that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God’s grace that you have been saved” (GNT). God wants you to pass on the mercy that you’ve received from him. Because God commands you to be merciful. Do you want a summary of what life’s all about? Here it is: “The Lord has told you what is good. This is what the Lord requires from you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to live humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8 GW). Because you’re going to need more mercy in the future. You’re going to make a lot of mistakes between now and when you get to heaven, and you’re going to need God’s mercy. But you cannot receive what you are unwilling to give. James 2:13 says, “You must show mercy to others, or God will not show mercy to you when he judges you. But the person who shows mercy can stand without fear at the judgment” (NCV). Because showing mercy brings or causes happiness. Matthew 5:7 says that God blesses those who are merciful. The word “blessed” also means “happy,” so the more you learn and demonstrate this quality, the happier and more blessed you’re going to be. “The wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy” (James 3:17 NLT).
Mercy is like a diamond; it is multi-faceted. Here are seven facets of mercy, because learning how to be an agent of mercy will transform your relationships. Mercy means being patient with people’s quirks. How do you get more patience for your kids, spouse, or friends? The Bible says in James 3:17, “The wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy” (NLT). The wiser you become, the more patient and merciful you become. Mercy means helping anyone around you who is hurting. You cannot love your neighbor as yourself without being merciful. Proverbs 3:27 says, “Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it” (GNT). But God is not simply watching what you do. He’s watching your attitude: “[When you] show mercy, do it cheerfully” (Romans 12:8 NIV). Mercy means giving people a second chance. When somebody hurts us, we normally want to get even or write that person off. But the Bible says, “Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don’t yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ” (Ephesians 4:31-32 CEV). Mercy means doing good to those who hurt you. Mercy is giving people what they need, not what they deserve. Why should we do it? Because that’s what God does with us: “Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because [God] is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36 NIV). Mercy means being kind to those who offend you. You’ve got to be more interested in winning people to Christ than in winning an argument. Jude 1:22-23 says, “Show mercy to those who have doubts. Save others by snatching them from the fire of hell. Show mercy to others, even though you are afraid that you might be stained by their sinful lives” (GW). Mercy means building bridges of love to the unpopular. This is what can be called premeditated mercy, because you intentionally build friendships with people who don’t have friends or who are not accepted at work or in society. When the Pharisees questioned why Jesus ate with tax collectors and other unpopular people, Jesus said, “‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners” (Matthew 9:13 NLT). Mercy means valuing relationships over rules. Romans 13:10 says, “Love fulfills the requirements of God’s law” (NLT). If you want to show mercy, put people before policies. Put their needs before procedures. Put relationships before regulations. Choose love over law. “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7 NLT).
In a previous vignette on Mercy, we talked about seven facets of mercy. You might consider some personal application questions for each of the aspects. Here'a a challenge to commit an act of premeditated mercy in each of these categories this week. Wait. Isn’t there a tension between mercy and personal responsibility? Yes, there is. But if you're going to err, you might consider erring on the side of being too gracious, too merciful, and too forgiving. I’d rather go overboard on mercy—just look at what Jesus did on the cross. So, how will you be merciful?
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AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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