Mercy always triumphs over judgment

Pastor James writes in James 2:13, "Mercy always triumphs over judgment."

So true.

The great Scottish preacher Alexander McClaren once wrote, "Be kind to everyone you meet because everyone you meet is facing a battle."

And John Ortberg writes, "the only normal people I know are the people I don't know well."

 

Everyone is carrying a wound.

 

And here is what I know about wounds:  You can break an arm, and we know in six weeks broken bones heal.  But how many of you - as you are reading this - read this with a broken heart?

 

It is easy to see a cast on an arm, but it is difficult to read a broken heart.

 

Six weeks doesn't suffice to heal most broken hearts.  It takes years, sometimes decades.

 

You are like me in that someone can approach us and mention one name, just one name, and it can bring tears to our eyes. It opens up old wounds.

 

All someone has to do is to mention one circumstance and there's a knot still deep inside.

 

So the last thing you need is for someone to point a finger at you.

 

My encouragement to you today?  Let's all walk in love, acceptance and forgiveness - and remember that everyone is hurting to some extent.

 

Let's all continue to put grace on the front burner of our relationships with one another.

 

Just a thought for a Tuesday.