New Mercy
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning great is Your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23
God is full of mercy towards us. His love and mercy never fail! They never cease or come to an end! In fact, instead of the Lord running out of mercy, He actually has brand new mercy for us every day. If God has new mercy on us every day, then how should we be treating the people in our lives? We should be bestowing upon them that same new mercy every single day just like God the Father does for us! Every day when you wake up, you make time to shower, to brush your teeth, and hopefully to fix your hair! Every morning you take care of the kids or the dogs or whatever it is you do to get ready for your day. While you are preparing, make sure that you don't forget to add some mercy into your routine. Don't just take care of things in the natural, remember to do the spiritual things too. So while you are getting out the coffee grinds, get your mercy out for the day!
Why is this necessary? Because as Christians, we are supposed to grow to become more like God. The Bible encourages us to be "like Christ." Ephesians 5:1-2 says, "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." We are supposed to be imitators of God. We imitate God by walking in love with others. Because He loved us and died for us, it is only right that we do the same. If God has new mercy for us every day, then that is what must we do every day for others. We better have new mercy ready and waiting EVERY DAY for our friends, our family, our co-workers, and others as well. That's how we imitate God the Father!
No matter how many times somebody does you wrong. God doesn't let us set a limit on our love because He never sets a limit on His love for us. In Matthew 18, Peter asked the Lord if forgiveness need only be granted to others up to seven times. Jesus replied by saying "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." Jesus is simply trying to get us to understand that we are going to have to forgive a lot! You need to have a limitless supply of forgiveness for others. No matter what they do to you, you still must forgive! It's that important!
The only thing God sees is forgive and keep on forgiving. Love and keep on loving. Have mercy and keep on being merciful no matter how many times somebody does you wrong. God doesn't let us set a limit on our love because He NEVER sets a limit on His love for us. No matter what people do to us. You're co-worker might berate you every day, your kids might act up 100 times a day, your next door neighbor might park right on your lawn every week- but your love can't fail them. Your mercy has to outlast their failings!
Love,
Brittany