Diary Entry #1008: Renouncing My Dignity

I just got home from Washington state a few days ago. In my 3 days away from home I resided in a strange land with unfamiliar roads and cold, wet weather. I love being out of my element. It forces me to watch closely for the Lord. My routine many times causes me to be complacent due to incessant predictability. I dislike complacency.

What I like so much about the Lord is that as His Words are being spoken, I get this "hmmm, that seems to be speaking to me..." and then a tidal wave of understanding comes crashing over me. This weekend He snuck in and then just exploded in truth. 

"Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy." - words of Jesus in Matt. 5:7

"People who are merciful are people who renounce their own dignity." - Bonhoeffer

"Mercy is the ability to get inside the other person's skin." - Barclay

There will come a day that you will be justified in doing something very harsh. You will be right, the information will be true, but I would ask you to choose to refrain from stripping someone's dignity from them. Preserve their heart. Go to them first in a loving and understanding way. Do all things to benefit the good of that person. And know how grateful you would be if you were in that person's place. Don't condone bad behavior but don't condemn the person. He or she is only a fellow struggler in this thing we call life. We all fall short. "We" means you and me.

"Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment..." Romans 12:3

Do you remember that moment in your life that you hope no one ever finds out about? It's that moment that brings a shameful feeling to you stomach - yeah, that's the one. The Lord was standing near you during that time.... He saw. He knows. He still reached out to you. He still wanted you.

Before acting in harsh judgement, let self-righteousness be far from you and remember the mercy that God has shown you when you didn't deserve it. Consider mercy first.

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

The point: Mercy is deserved by none, required by all.

-Shauna