Imitate Mercy

Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:18-19)

This morning during my quiet time I opened my Bible to Micah 7, looking for encouragement... instead I found conviction.

This past week I had been disheartened and my relationship with the Lord was suffering. I couldn't pinpoint the reason why until this morning -- I was still living in bitterness and unforgiveness.

When someone hurts me, my method of self-preservation is to remain angry with that person -- which is very, very wrong. Ephesians 4:26-27 says, "'Be angry, and do not sin': do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil."

Micah 7 tells us that the Lord does not retain His anger forever but He delights in mercy. God takes great pleasure in being faithful when we are not -- in returning kindness when we are still in sin. I admit that I find it difficult to continue in love and kindess after being hurt by someone, but I have also seen the rewards when I do -- my dad, for instance. Because I put my unforgiveness into the Lord's hands, my relationship with my dad is better than I could have ever hoped for. But I had to first realize that the problem was with me, not my dad. It doesn't matter if it's the other person's "fault" -- the fault is with you if you do not forgive and move on.

The Apostle Paul challenges us to imitate Christ in 1 Corinthians 11:1, so my challenge from the Lord for today is to imitate Micah 7:18-19.