…You (God) do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. Micah 7:18 (NIV)
“If you break it, I don’t get mad I get even.” Those words have been seared into my psyche. I was probably 9 or 10 years old and those words were on a little plaque resting on top of the VCR in my best friend, David Allen’s home. I asked him who put it there. He said his mom. I asked, somewhat afraid, “What does it mean?” He didn’t know. We thought it be smart not to find out.
They were simple words that packed a punch of a warning. You wonder if some of us should walk around with the same plaque resting on top of our heads or perhaps as big bold gangster rapper jewelry around our necks. Or ever better, some of us should probably tweak the message somewhat: from “I don’t get mad I get even” to “Warning: I get mad and even!” No one likes it when someone does us dirty, offends us, hurts or harms us. In fact some of us have been known to keep long accounts of offenses, “I don’t like so n’ so.” “Why not?” “Well, it all started twenty years ago…” Thank God He’s nothing like us. Micah actually tells us that God delights in showing mercy. When’s the last time you felt something remotely close to that? “All right! So n’ so offended me. It’s been so long since I had an opportunity to show mercy to someone. Showing mercy is my favorite!”
I don’t delight in showing mercy; it brings me no joy. I’m not pleased by it. Why? The offense is more important to me than the relationship (I’m working on it.). Yet God sees it different. The relationship is more important than the offense. That’s why the Bible tells us: while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
“If you break it, I don’t get mad I get even.” Those words have been seared into my psyche. I was probably 9 or 10 years old and those words were on a little plaque resting on top of the VCR in my best friend, David Allen’s home. I asked him who put it there. He said his mom. I asked, somewhat afraid, “What does it mean?” He didn’t know. We thought it be smart not to find out.
They were simple words that packed a punch of a warning. You wonder if some of us should walk around with the same plaque resting on top of our heads or perhaps as big bold gangster rapper jewelry around our necks. Or ever better, some of us should probably tweak the message somewhat: from “I don’t get mad I get even” to “Warning: I get mad and even!” No one likes it when someone does us dirty, offends us, hurts or harms us. In fact some of us have been known to keep long accounts of offenses, “I don’t like so n’ so.” “Why not?” “Well, it all started twenty years ago…” Thank God He’s nothing like us. Micah actually tells us that God delights in showing mercy. When’s the last time you felt something remotely close to that? “All right! So n’ so offended me. It’s been so long since I had an opportunity to show mercy to someone. Showing mercy is my favorite!”
I don’t delight in showing mercy; it brings me no joy. I’m not pleased by it. Why? The offense is more important to me than the relationship (I’m working on it.). Yet God sees it different. The relationship is more important than the offense. That’s why the Bible tells us: while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
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