Mercy Triumphs Over Judgement
Taken near the Via Dolarosa in Israel
When I first sat down to write today my original intent was to unpack a series of lies that have been spoken over me for the last 25+ years, lies I have spent my life believing, lies that have wounded me, and have imprisoned me from fully pursuing God’s direct calling on my life. I was going to go one lie at a time and dispute each of them with the truth of scripture, however that will wait for another day, if at all.
Today I want to say to my brothers and even sisters in Christ: leaders, authority figures, family members, friends, acquaintances, and those in the larger body of Christ that I have never met personally who have wounded me, bound me, chastised me, and wrongly accused me in my pursuit of obeying my heavenly Father and what I know He has called and gifted me to do, I FORGIVE YOU! Yes, you have wounded me for over two decades of my life, but I have also wounded many over the last 39 years of my life. I have sinned and am in constant desperate need of forgiveness, so how can I, who has been given much, not in turn offer much.
To those sisters of mine who have been wounded, overlooked, looked down upon, and so much more, I see you and I know the deep pain you have felt. I know the corners you have felt relegated to and how you have been used. I know the desperate ache in your heart that cries to be able to stretch wide in the space God has called you to and run loose in your gifting and I am sorry. I repent on behalf of the church for the wounds that have been inflicted upon you. I repent for the times we didn’t listen and heed the wise council you have offered for the sake of the body. I repent for the times we told you to be less than God made you to be and for not allowing you to be all that God has commanded you to be. I repent for when we have made up terminology that is antithetical to scripture. I repent for the times we have relied on others interpretation of scripture instead of taking the time to fully press into it ourselves with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I repent for all the times that we have feared what man may say. I repent for our fear of the unknown. I repent for every unjust, unholy thing that was said and done to you and beg your forgiveness. Sisters, I am sorry.
As your sister, who stands arm in arm with you and in arms for you, my charge for us would be to allow mercy to triumph. To pray for the beloved bride of Christ like we have never prayed before. I would challenge us that when the hairs on our necks stand up and we feel like we are about to come unglued that instead of moving our fingers 280 character a second, we would humble ourselves and choose to forgive. Let us no longer give flight to the words of those who would seek to destroy us or discourage us. Let us allow them to die upon their conception and turn our face toward heaven and run whole-heartedly after Christ, The Author and Finisher of Our Faith. You and I have been given dominion over the earth and as such are called to be ministers of reconciliation. Let us also be careful, for the very covenant you and I rest under that God made with Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you” is also the same covenant that our brothers and sisters who disagree with our calling are under as well. Let us walk humbly before God, fighting the real enemy, and building the kingdom. We weren’t meant to do it without our brothers and we certainly can’t do it better than each other, let’s just seek to do it with them in a spirit of unity and a bond of peace. Let us lavishly and without fear wave the banner that MERCY TRIUMPHS JUDGEMENT!
Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Mark 11:25 “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
Matthew 6:15 “But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”
Luke 6:37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;”
Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
Ephesians 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”