Make Room for the Love

"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give and you will receive." ~ Luke 6:36-38

There aren't a lot of interpretive challenges with Luke 6:36-38. It's very straight forward. Do not judge. Do not condemn.

Which, on the face of it, seems a little odd. Jesus had just finished doing what appears to be a whole lot of judging and condemning the religious rulers of the time. They had apparently turned their professions, the law, and their wealth into idols. They said they were all about loving and obeying God, but for Jesus there was ample evidence to the contrary.

What was the evidence of their hypocrisy? The Bible said it often, "But Jesus knew their hearts," or "But Jesus knew what they were thinking." And that's my, "Ah ha!" moment.

I don't know anyone's heart. I don't know what they're thinking. I can guess based on what they say or what they do, but I can't really know. And I never know the rest of their stories.

We don't get to judge like God does, we don't get to condemn like Him. Yet, that's where, in our brokenness, we tend to rush.

Fight that desire. Lay it at God's feet and leave it there. Because here's the most shocking, the most revolutionary thing about what Jesus says in Luke 6: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." ...as your Father is merciful. God is perfectly just, always fair, but the Bible makes it clear He overflows with mercy. In Micah, I read that God delights in mercy. In Psalms, I read that mercy is "over all His works."

Wow! Look at that, right there, in Luke 6:36. What does God give us the ability to do like He does? Show mercy, give and forgive - love.

Let go of the judgement, the condemnation. Make room for the love. That's all.