Have you seen the bumper sticker “Love the sinner, hate the sin”? I think it begs the question, what about hating our own sin? Perhaps, a new take on this bumper sticker is in order… “Love the sinner, hate your own sin”.
Do we hate our own sin or just hate the sin in others? If we’ve been saved by grace, why can it be challenging for us to have mercy and extend grace to others – especially, when we’ve been wronged or hurt? Why can it be difficult to love others like God loves us under such circumstances?
In this blog, I’ll discuss three tools that can help us love others like God loves us.
1. Remember God Saved Us from the Consequences of Sin
I’ve met many people who have asked for (and received) the mercy and grace offered by God through His Son. Many folks have told me amazing stories about how God “lifted them from the pit of despair”, “gave them hope and a new life”, and “saved them from their sin.”
When people tell their stories, I can feel the gratitude they have in their hearts as they remember how God saved them from the consequences of their sins. In many cases, these people are the same people who have mercy and extend grace to others versus judging or condemning. To have mercy and extend grace means not “throwing the first stone”, but recognizing that we struggle with sin too.
2. Love Others Like God Loves Us
Let’s consider what Jesus says about this.
If you do good only to those who do good to you, what praise should you get? Even sinners do that! If you lend things to people, always hoping to get something back, what praise should you get? Even sinners lend to other sinners so that they can get back the same amount! But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without hoping to get anything back. Then you will have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God, because he is kind even to people who are ungrateful and full of sin. Show mercy, just as your Father shows mercy. Luke 6:33-36 (NCV)
When we have mercy and extend grace to others, we love others like God loves us – as “he is kind even to people who are ungrateful and full of sin”. So, if God is merciful and gracious to us, we, in turn, need to be merciful and gracious to others.
3. Pray as Jesus Instructed Us
We all struggle with keeping divine laws. However, we can have mercy and extend grace to others by praying as Jesus instructed us in Mathew 6:12-13 (GW):
- Father, forgive us as we forgive others
- Don’t allow us to be tempted
- Rescue us from the evil one
In other words, we need to be able to recognize our own sin, repent, and ask for forgiveness.
Most importantly, to love others like God loves us, we need to forgive, have mercy, and extend grace to others when they sin against us.
How do you struggle having mercy and extending grace to others?
If you would like to learn more about sin, repentance, forgiveness, grace, and mercy, check out my book Rediscovering the Divine: Seeing God in a Whole New Way.
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