Mercy can change a heart like nothing else. When I look back on times of uncontainable gratitude, the kind where the tears pour down your face and nothing else matters in that moment, more times than not I am focused on the mercy of God over my life.

I know His love, and I have known it as mercy that reaches far.

I hope that when I go to be with Jesus in the glorious life that awaits, others will remember that I spoke of His mercy often.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus… Ephesians 2:4-6

Let us be quick to ask God to fill our hearts with His love when indignation threatens to turn our hearts toward a sense of justice that we are not in charge of. God alone knows everything. Only He knows perfect mercy, and His ways and thoughts are high above our own.

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us… Titus 3:4, 5

We are immersed in God’s kindness. May we have willing hearts to recognize it more and more and be compelled to show it to others, glorifying God in the process.

“But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven…” Luke 6:35-37

Our pastor always reminds us that we can’t just go out and be “good”, that in our own strength and determination our efforts won’t have lasting results. I have found that to be absolutely true! In order to be like Jesus, we must spend time with Him and be in His word. It’s not just an exercise to be a better person; it is an act of loving worship unto a deeper relationship with the One True God.