Because of His Mercy!

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, " (Titus 3:4-6 NIV)

When Paul wrote this letter to Titus, he reminded him (in earlier verses) that we were all once foolish, hated and hating others, doing whatever we wanted to do, serving our flesh. And now--since the appearance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, there should be a difference between us who are saved and those who are not--because of His mercy!

We who understand the work on the cross and the resurrection are saved through the rebirth (born again experience) and becoming a new creation in Christ by Holy Spirit who is available to everyone who believes, because of His mercy!

There are some who think we can never do any wrong and use our role as followers of Jesus Christ to become superior to everyone else. That is not our role. Because of His mercy shown towards us, we should also be merciful towards others. We should not hold what people have done against them--especially when they have decided to accept Jesus Christ as their Personal Savior. If God held everything we had ever done against us--before coming into knowledge of His saving grace, where would we be?

Now that we are saved through grace because of His mercy, we should want to do good out of gratitude to Him who saved us and to honor what He has done by doing for others. We have not reached perfection and therefore we are just as capable of doing wrong as the next person. The difference is--when we mess up (not intentionally), we know we can go to God, repent and receive forgiveness and since He knows when we are sincere or not, He responds accordingly. Seeking forgiveness with a sincere heart ends with our sins being tossed into the sea of forgetfulness by God. Can we do any less for those who have wronged us when they seek forgiveness from us with a sincere heart?

I know some people believe that we should forgive and forget what others have done to us. I believe we should forgive and not hold grudges, but we should always remember what has happened in the past to avoid a repeat of history. Therein lies the difference between forgetting--not remembering and not holding grudges against a person. Forgive and be wise, considering the mercy that has been shown to you!

With that in mind, we should move forward--seeking to do good works for those in need--exemplifying the mercy God has shown towards us and not do anything grudgingly, but with enthusiasm and excitement, knowing what we do, pleases Him who shows us new mercies--every morning.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases and His mercy never comes to an end; they are new every morning! We don't have to depend on the mercy we had yesterday or worry about tomorrow's mercy--new every morning and with the direction provided to us, by Holy Spirit, we can do all things well, through Him who loves us and because of His mercy!