13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
In this world where judgment is the standard, both personally and corporately, mercy gets a bad rap. From God’s perspective, mercy is a much greater power than judgment. Anyone can judge. It is so easy. As any child knows, all it takes is “the look.” Judgment is the common currency of relationships. We put one another down in order to lift ourselves up. We focus on their faults so that we don’t have to look at our own. I point the finger to keep the spotlight turned away from me. But the way we treat others is the way we will be treated. If we extend mercy toward others, we will get mercy. That should be all the motivation we need. We all need mercy, so we should all be extending mercy. But our sinful nature uses judgment to isolate us from the mercy of God. The more we judge, the less we experience the presence of God in our lives. And the less God is present, the less mercy we are experiencing. Besides, mercy is much nicer than judgment! No one likes to be on the receiving end of judgment; everyone likes to receive mercy. So what is preventing you from showing more mercy today? Is it because you don’t feel the other person deserves mercy? If that is the case, mercy is the perfect thing for them, because mercy is about not deserving it. At the heart is mercy is the lack of worthiness to receive it. Mercy means they are getting what they don’t deserve. They should be getting judgment, but instead they are getting grace packaged in a way suitable for framing. Mercy is grace in a usable form. So today, the challenge becomes finding someone with whom to exercise mercy. Today, instead of judgment, give them mercy. Then leave the results up to God. When we act like God, God shows up in our hearts.
The Arnold Journey 