Your Identity in Christ
• Even though we are sinners, God has been gracious to us; in Christ, we are children of the Most High and will be merciful, just as our Heavenly Father is merciful.
Pondering Point
Remembering who you are in Christ is a great way to handle any temptation to not be merciful, to withhold grace, or to treat others poorly in return for being treated poorly. Let's learn to love our enemies and do good to them as we heard yesterday from Jesus in Luke 6:35. And take note of God’s promise below under today’s Micro-Meditations from Scripture: God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. How can you demonstrate God’s love in your relationships when it comes to being merciful, gracious, and God-like?
Prayer Prompt
Ask God to make you more like Him, willing to forgive even before someone has asked. This will help your heart to be in the right “frame of mind” you might say.
Micro-Meditation
Psalm 51:3-6
- For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me. - Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge. - Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time
my mother conceived me. - Yet you desired faithfulness
even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom
in that secret place.
Teaching or Command of God:
Ezekiel 33:11
As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!
Romans 5:8
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Pondering Point
God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Do you? God loves sinners. Do you?