once you really feel forgiven, once you have been graced, then it's easier for you to be gracious. once you have felt the mercy of GOD then it's easier for you to be merciful.
now after you've done that, the next thing you do, in order to become a merciful person, is start looking at people with the eyes of JESUS CHRIST. look at people the way the LORD would see them.
by the way, if you have trouble with lust, this is the key. instead of looking at them in lust, look at them in love, the way JESUS would see them. instead of a body, you will see a person. so, instead of having a problem with lust, you start saying, "LORD, help me to see the man, woman from your point of view. how do you see that person? what are the hurts you see in their lives? what are the needs you see in their lives?" look at them from the eyes of CHRIST. the most CHRIST like thing you can do is to care for other people.
the thing CHRISTians are going to be judged for at the judgment is how they treated other people. in matthew 25.36-40 (ms) JESUS said, i was hungry and you fed me, i was thirsty and you gave me a drink, i was homeless and you gave me a room, i was shivering and you gave me clothes, i was sick and you stopped to visit, i was in prison and you came to me. and we're going to say, what are you talking about? when did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? and when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you? JESUS said, whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was ME—you did it to me.
GOD's going to ask you how you treated other people. were you merciful? were you like HIM? JESUS had a ministry of mercy. HE lifted up the lonely. HE accepted the rejected. HE grieved with those who were sorrowing. HE loved the unlovely. HE helped those who are helpless and the hurting. HE cared for them. and GOD wants you to be a little CHRIST at your job, at your school, at your home. treat people the way HE would.
just a thought from the front porch…
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