When Adam and Eve sinned they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, thus receiving God's justice. But He didn't wipe out humanity, no, in His mercy, he allowed redemption....for all who want to receive it. We must rely solely on His love and mercy to obtain heaven.
There is no greater love than when Jesus suffered and died for us on the cross. The crucifix is not only a great sign of His love for us, but of His mercy. You cannot have one without the other. Making the sign of the cross is a reminder of what Jesus did for us and why He did it. “We adore Thee O' Christ and we praise Thee, for by Your cross and resurrection, You have set us free.“
We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves, but that means also extending mercy toward them. No grudges, no hatred, no judgmentalism.....just love and mercy. Let go. God has forgiven you and granted you mercy, now go and do the same for your neighbor. So they cut you off driving down the road, ask God to bless them — maybe they are trying to get to the hospital to see a dying parent. Was the cashier rude to you? Let it go.....maybe someone called in sick and they have to stay late.
We expect others to understand us and for God to forgive us our sins, well then do the same for others. If you are going to err, err on the side of love and mercy.
Mercy is not just for others, it is also for ourselves. In fact, sometimes we need to grant ourselves mercy, more than we do to others. We confess our sins to God, we have received forgiveness....God's mercy, but then we continue to beat ourselves up. We dwell on it and refuse to forgive ourselves, to allow God's mercy to work within us. No good comes of this because we stop growing if all we do is dwell on the past.
Let go. Rest in the love and mercy of God.
Our Heavenly Father is just and He is merciful. We deserve His justice, but because of His love for us, He offers us mercy instead. The greatest offense to God is to refuse His mercy. In refusing His mercy, you are in fact demanding His justice. His justice damns us, but His mercy saves us.
Here is a prayer:
“Mercy is who God is. Mercy is Love's second name. God is more interested in our future than in our past, more interested in the kind of person that we can yet become than in the person we used to be. God indeed takes our sins seriously, but not as the last word. God sees our sins for what they are, but at the same time knows that there is more to us than those sins. God will help us grow patiently toward the person He wants us to be. He's willing to do this saving work with us, if we let Him enter into our lives. Amen”
