Mercy And Grace

Mercy and Grace
originally written 7/17/08

If you had understood what the words mean, 'I want loving-kindness and not a gift to be given,' you would not say a person is guilty who has done no wrong.
Matthew 12:7

Is it hard for you to show mercy or grace to someone when you feel they may be undeserving? How have you felt when mercy or grace has been shown to you and it doesn’t feel deserving?

One of my pet peeves is how my daughters maintain their bathroom. Rather it should be the lack of maintenance. It drives me mad to use it, which is safe to say is only under extreme emergencies. I rarely do and I’m sure to suit up in my handy Hazmat suit, prior to entering. It often appears as if it hasn’t been cleaned in weeks. There is no toilet paper. At least it’s not on the roll dispenser where one may expect to find it. It’s usually hiding under a towel that that got tossed on the floor. Make up, hair products; a hair straighter or crimper is taking up space on the counter. And would it kill them to empty the wastebasket before it begins to overflow?

I get after them and say, "Get in here and do something about this bathroom.” I get the usual, “It wasn’t me, she made the mess” or “I will, I will.” So I put my foot down until they get so tired of my voice, and they clean. Even though I’m irritated and not pleased with their lack of concern on the subject, I still do not turn my children away when they need my help. I don’t do the check off list. “Well let’s see, you need advice in how to set up your school schedule to coincide with your work schedule? Did you finish that bathroom yet? Don’t come to me with your problems until you finish cleaning that bathroom?”

What if God did that to us? What if he waited until we had all our issues worked out and corrected before He listened to us? God isn’t waiting for everything to be perfect in our lives before we can receive His grace. God gives it to us even on our worst day. God is a loving God full of mercy; He just wants us to receive it. Even if we don’t feel we deserve His favor, He wants us to have it. We are to also show others the same type of grace no matter what our feelings my tell us. We may not feel a person is deserving of our mercy, but we are to forgive just as we have been forgiven.