James 2:12-13 “So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.”

How many times have we read that God is ‘no respecter of persons’? How many times have you heard that the Lord says ‘vengeance is mine’? Still in our arrogance and in the name of justice we withhold mercy from those most in need. It is not in the name of man’s justice that we should trust, rather it is in the justice of the Almighty that we should weigh our showing or lack of mercy. Do you think the Lord will be mocked? When he has extended mercy to you and you withhold it from others, will he not, in perfect justice and for love of mercy, exact justice on you? Just like we love because he first loved us, we must learn to show mercy because he first had mercy on us. Is it possible that anyone has never felt the kindness of the Father when in our sin and guilt we expected nothing but punishment? We have all been in distress. And in his infinite grace and compassion, God has not withheld his mercy from us. Who are we then, whose cup runs over with mercy, to deny its gentle embrace to another embattled soul who, for right or wrong, is God’s to judge and not our own.

Pray: “Dearest Father, in your most holy and blessed name I ask that you give me a compassionate heart towards those who my nature would incline my heart to harden against. I most humbly acknowledge the mercy you have shown me. Help me to not be slow in sharing the grace by which I have been blessed and absolved. As a child mirrors their parents, in this let me mirror you, Father. In my blessed Lord and brother’s name I pray – Amen.”