The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. Psalm 145:8
“Do not despair of His mercy, no matter how great your sins, for great mercy will take away great sins. For the Lord is gracious and merciful and prefers the conversion of a sinner rather than his death. Patient and generous is His mercy, He does not give in to human impatience but is willing to wait a long time for our repentance.”
Jerome of Stridon (c. 347-420) in Sermon 15 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 193.
I needed this post today.
Have you ever been wronged in a significant way? In such situations, our fleshly tendency is to respond in anger or to defend ourselves. Instead, when we take our pain to the Lord, He invites us to be gracious and merciful, to be patient and generous toward the wrongdoer.
Overcoming human impatience is easier said than done.
But rather than feeling torn up inside about it, we fell peace after making this choice. This peace passes all comprehension. It makes no sense. But it’s the pathway to freedom. So, if you despair, fix your hope in the One who showed mercy to you. His lovingkindness fills me with love to pray for the wrongdoer.
God, thanks for your patient and generous mercy.