Okay, God, I said, I know you want me to forgive them, but all I see is them getting all these amazing things! Whenever they speak, all they talk about is how incredible you are and how much you love them. They never talk about how you are correcting or changing them. Aren’t you ever going to convict them?
My kindness leads to repentance.
The phrase comes from Romans 2:1-4: “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgement against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgement on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgement? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”
Oof.
Let’s break that passage down in English.
There’s no double standard in God’s kingdom—to expect mercy for yourself while demanding that someone else be punished is the height of hypocrisy, and incredibly disrespectful to God. He was thoroughly patient, long-suffering, and kind, even when I was at the height of rebellion: this is his kindness toward me. Seeing the difference in our characters made me realize I needed to repent and turn back to him. If I then grow angry when he extends that same kindness to others, I am no better than the servant from Matthew 18, who, after his master forgives an exorbitant debt, immediately demands that his debtor pay back petty change.
But God, they don’t see it! What they’re doing is wrong, and it’s hurting people—hurting me!
So pray for my kindness to fall on them.
Instead of being upset that others are receiving God’s blessings when they clearly don’t deserve them, I want to focus on how much God has given me when I clearly didn’t deserve it. And then, from a heart that has fully forgiven my offender, I want to pray for them to receive God’s kindness—and not as a thinly-cloaked guilt trip, but with an honest and sincere heart that desires their good.
That last part is the kicker. And honestly, at this point in the conversation, I couldn’t get behind it. Which is why Realization #2 happened.
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