Know His Mercy

As competitors, we know that sometimes the playing field is not an easy place to be. Not only is the gift of sports thrilling, challenging, fun, and passionate, but it can be one full of judgment as well. We face possible judgment on our performance from our coaches, our opponents, our fans, and even our fellow teammates. Judgment, if we allow it to be, can more often than not be extremely discouraging; while tearing down our confidence, it can lead us to become bitter, and even weak. Judgment is bound to be present in competition and shows up in our daily lives as well.

Just as we live in a world full of judgment, God tells us that He is a God of judgment. What? Yes, it’s true. But even though He is a God of judgment, He is also a God with overflowing mercy. God judges right from wrong, He scans our hearts, and judges the sin in our lives and in the world. He knows it all and He sees it all and desires to love us and teach us to become more like Him. God is mercy. He has not only shown us mercy through His love for us, and blessed us with mercy through forgiving our sin, but He gives us goodness and peace that we don’t deserve.

God’s Word tells us that “mercy triumphs over judgment,” meaning that mercy is strong, and it overcomes judgment. Though our Heavenly Father is a God of judgment, mercy comes overflowing out of His heart because He is for us! Mercy wins! As sinful people deserving of God’s judgment, we are undeserving of His beautiful mercy in our lives. He loves us so much He cannot hold back. As competitors, and humans, we need God’s mercy. To understand where His mercy comes from and how to accept His great love, we need to get to know God more. By opening up the Bible, we are given a front-row seat to God’s judgment and mercy throughout its pages. God’s mercy is overwhelming. Open your Bible today and lean into learning more about our Heavenly Father--you will find more and more mercy as you go.