God Delights in Mercy

 Mercy is very hard for a lot of us, even as believers. Christians should be the most merciful people in the world, since Jesus has been so merciful to us, to forgive us of all of our sins by grace through faith. We did not have to pay anything. He freely forgave us, as  we trusted in His sacrifice for us. That being the case, still many people are hard on other people and do not extend much mercy to those around them when they mess up in some way.

Micah asked a great question for us to consider and gave us a statement to ponder. (Micah 7:18) He asked who is a God like our God, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His people? He doesn't retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. God doesn't just extend mercy. He delights in being merciful. There is a message there for all of us. 

Often, we want to rub it in when someone makes a mistake. When someone harms us in some way, we want them to receive the full punishment. If we don't get our way in a particular situation, we are quick to assign blame to someone and want them to give in to our desires. All of these things show a lack of mercy. We should be like God. We should pardon iniquities and pass over transgressions. Then, we should leave it up to the Lord to bring justice.

We should never retain anger towards others for any reason. The Bible says not to let the sun go down on our wrath, or anger. If we hold on to anger, it makes it worse and worse until it turns into a root of bitterness. That bitterness infects our other relationship, as well. We should be like the Lord and delight in extending mercy. We should do it cheerfully and willingly, because it is what delights our heart, not being hard on other people.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Nahum 1-3.