Grace and Mercy

It seems that the concepts of grace and mercy have come up a lot lately for me this past week.  Maybe that is because God is trying to show me that I need to be showing these things more to those I come in contact with, or maybe He is trying to show me that I need to appreciate how much grace and mercy I am shown.  Probably both.  Either way, this week I am thankful for grace and mercy because, without them, I can’t imagine what life would be like.

My understanding of grace and mercy is that grace is when God gives us what we don’t deserve, and mercy is when God doesn’t give us what we do deserve.  Such small words hold such great meaning.  It says in Psalm 103:10, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve.”  If God doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, then what would life be like if He did?  This leads me to think through the wrongs I have done and how God hasn’t punished me or forced me to face the consequences of my actions.  How absolutely amazing and frightening it is to realize that there are a million things I could have been punished for, but God had mercy on me through each time that I failed Him. “Over and over again, Your love and Your mercy begins.”  This is the chorus to one of my favorite songs, “Over and Over Again” by a group called, I Am They.  It reminds me that, no matter how many times fail, His love is endless.  He shows me His grace and mercy when I am being self-centered, when I am completely wrong, and when I fail to or do not want to show grace and mercy to others. Instead of leaving me to figure out my messes on my own, He has walked with me and shown me His perfect grace and mercy.

I think about how many times I haven’t shown grace and mercy when I should have.  How many times have I been too hard on someone, while God continuously forgives me through my failures?  Can you imagine what it would be like if God acted as we do towards others, by deciding that it is too difficult to show grace and mercy?  What if God decided that He is sick of us messing up time and time again and gives up on showing us mercy?  What if He put a limit on how much grace He gives?  Thankfully, we serve a God whose ways are greater than our ways, because if His ways were like ours, we’d be in big trouble.  God has shown me grace and mercy in so many ways, but I often don’t share that grace and mercy with others.  This week I am going to challenge myself to share with others the grace and mercy that I have been saved by.

I hope that you are encouraged to look at the role that grace and mercy plays in your life this week.  How have you been shown grace and mercy?  Is there a person in your life that you should be showing more grace and mercy?  Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!  

Taken on October 12th, 2015 by Emily Pastin.
This scripture, found in my weekly planner, is what inspired my thoughts for this blogpost this week!