Merciful

2 Corinthians 1:3 NLT

All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us.

God truly wants to show us His mercy, comfort and love. He is the source of each of these attributes. We should be passing this fact on to others so that they can also see God for who He really is.

Exodus 34:6-7 NLT

6 He passed in front of Moses and said, "I am the LORD, I am the LORD, the merciful and gracious God. I am slow to anger and rich in unfailing love and faithfulness. I show this unfailing love to many thousands by forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. Even so I do not leave sin unpunished, but I punish the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations.”

What people get hung up on is that God must punish sin. If we confess our sins, He will clean them away and not remember them. If we don’t, they are still in the way of our relationship with God. We need to let Him forgive us and clean us, and we do this by repenting with confession of our sins.

Matthew 23:23 NLT

"How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you ignore the important things of the law — justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things.”

Jesus condemned the Pharisees harshly in this entire chapter because they were not properly following God’s Law, which led to the people not learning how to follow God correctly. All Christians should be telling the world about God and convincing them they need Jesus, but it will not work unless it is done God’s way. We are to be showing the world that God may have to punish sin, but He wants to show us mercy and love far more. He wants everyone to return to Him. We should respond to knowing we have sinned like Nehemiah did.

Nehemiah 1:5-6 NKJV

And I said: "I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments. 6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned.”

Nehemiah prayed this prayer for Jerusalem and the remnant left there because the walls were all broken down. The Israelites had been exiled from their land by God for not obeying Him, but Nehemiah knew that God could restore them if they submitted themselves to Him and confessed. Due to his prayer he found a way to get the wall built by following God obediently.

God will show us great mercy if we submit to Him. If we are holding out for a sin that we cannot give up, then we are causing a broken relationship with God. Despite all His mercy and love, He must also exact justice against the sin of the world. Where do you want to be standing when the time comes for justice to be served? I hope you chose the side where the Lord will call you a good and faithful servant rather than someone He never knew.