I’ve heard sermons and lessons about God’s mercy ever since I was a little girl. I’ve listened to songs on the mercy of God and sang right along with it. But I don’t think I ever stopped to truly think about God’s mercy in my life until writing this book.

Our human understanding of mercy is slanted and often misguided. We do not exactly live in a merciful society. We are often quick to assume, quick to judge, quick to anger, quick to retaliate, quick to offense, quick to bitterness and grudges, and slow to forgiveness. How many times have we heard (or said): I may forgive you, but I’ll never forget? Let’s be honest: being merciful is challenging. Our human nature doesn’t want to let go of the anger. Our human nature wants to hold the grudge and retaliate.

Romans 8:7 says that our carnal mind (our flesh) is enmity against God. Do you know what “enmity” means? It’s a deep-rooted hatred. Our flesh opposes the Spirit of God. That’s why being merciful like Christ is so hard for many of us.

Christ’s mercy is everything our flesh is not. It’s slow to anger, quick to forgive, and once we seek forgiveness, He will not remember our past errors. Ever.

To have His mercy in our lives, we must be merciful to others. It’s a requirement. That means that we can block or impede His mercy upon us when we choose offense or unforgiveness.

This is an excerpt from my work-in-progress, His Mercy in My Mess. Â