- compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power; compassion, pity, or benevolence
For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Read this verse in the second chapter of James early this week and I have been chewing on it for days. So often a chapter or verse jumps out at me and then I end up having conversations about it, hearing and seeing so much that relates to it during the week following…
Judgment and mercy have been coming up a lot lately, in my daily life. There is often an unseen struggle in the heart of man that is basically TO JUDGE or to SHOW MERCY. The worlds solution to so many problems is to judge others and it is easy to do that with a heavy hand. Judgment is seen as the POWER of the two options and those who call themselves Christians are famous for their ability to judge others (are we any different from the world in this regard?).
If you think about it… it is so easy to judge that how much strength does it really take to do so? It is often far more difficult to show mercy and takes way more thought power and heart… you have to really work to empathise and get to know a person. A man I respect said to me this week ‘…after all who really has the right to judge anyone? We don’t know their story.’ The above verse makes it all very clear… takes all doubt and argument away… When I read it I said aloud ‘Whooow, that is intense.’ and the truth is mercyIS INTENSE!
A scene from ‘Schindler’s List’ kept coming to mind as I chewed on the power of mercy. The hero of the story was trying to teach the Nazi camp leader the strength in mercy… The real man is merciful… the Nazi character of course missed the point, or the heart, of mercy… but it was a moving scene and really drove home the point…
We all know the verse ‘judged not lest ye be judged’ but how often do we take that to heart in our day to day treatment of other people? Instead of focusing on judgment why don’t we just move away from that (since it is ultimately GOD’s place) and focus on mercy. After all wasn’t what Christ did for us totally undeserved, intense, PURE MERCY!?
“There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, Who are you to judge another?”
I hope it goes without saying that we must living in and by the Spirit to truly know and practice the mercy that Christ showed perfectly.
BLESS YOU!
TTFN
