- Mar 15, 2023
- 3 min read
“Be merciful (responsive, compassionate, tender) just as your [heavenly] Father is merciful. Do not judge [others self-righteously], and you will not be judged; do not condemn [others when you are guilty and unrepentant], and you will not be condemned [for your hypocrisy]; pardon [others when they truly repent and change], and you will be pardoned [when you truly repent and change]. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over [with no space left for more]. For with the standard of measurement you use [when you do good to others], it will be measured to you in return.”
[This is not a prohibition of judgment, nor is it a command to stop using godly wisdom, common sense, and moral courage together with God’s written word to discern right from wrong, to distinguish between morality and immorality, and to judge doctrinal truth. There are many judgments that are not only legitimate, but are commanded (cf John 7:24; 1 Cor 5:5, 12; Gal 1:8, 9; 1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 10); however, you cannot judge another if you are committing the same type of sin].
Luke 6:36-38 AMP
I always love that the amplified version adds that caveat at the end because so many folks stop at the comma and even forget the preceding statement about mercy from the Sermon on the Mount. And, do we need mercy and forgiveness? I need God’s mercy and forgiveness for my life. I need God’s mercy and forgiveness in my life. And too often I can get stuck on just how imperfect I am and just how imperfect other Christians are as well. I can show a lot more mercy to the heathens than I can fellow Christians because I expect a lot less. BUT God doesn’t expect less from them. He expects the exact same of everyone. He expects love and obedience.
And I have to continue to grow in His mercy and forgiveness. I read something last night that reminds me about my walk in the Way of the Lord and how sometimes I get frustrated with myself for not living up to His expectations. In his essay Science and Existence, Rudolf Bultmann brings his ideas about our walk with God together near the very end of the essay by stating, “For God is not to be held fast in faith in the sense that believers can look back on their faith as a decision made once and for all. God always remains beyond what has once been grasped, which means that the decision of faith is genuine only as actualized ever anew. God is 'the guest who always moves on' (Rilke), who cannot be apprehended in any now as one who remains. Rather, as the one who demands my decision ever anew, God ever stands before me as one who is coming, and this constant futurity of God is God's transcendence.” And I think that beautifully explains that my walk with Him is not ever achieved this side of eternity. It is not decided once and left in my past. My walk is a daily decision, even a moment by moment decision, on whether I walk toward Him. And I am not there yet. I am constantly working out my, “ . . . salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ]”(Philippians 2:12 AMP). I am not the reflection, the light, or the Ambassador of His Kingdom that I need to be yet. BUT I get to make that choice every day to work on that. I know we aren’t saved by works BUT that doesn’t stop me from working on Kingdom business. And if I’m not working on His business, then I am doing my own thing. And I see to many people acting like they already crossed the finish line. And I never want to feel like that until I stand in His presence at judgment.
I pray that I never give up on mercy and forgiveness. I pray that I am able to forgive and be merciful to my brothers and sisters as much as I am those outside His Church. I pray that my daily decision to walk in His Way is an example to others. I pray that my work on His behalf on this side of eternity is a light to those in my home, my community, and my life. I pray that I take seriously my work as an Ambassador of His Kingdom as I walk with Him each day.
I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!