Day 33: Friday 3/27

READ: James 2:8-13 (revisit)

You do well when you really fulfill the royal law found in scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself. But when you show favoritism, you are committing a sin, and by that same law you are exposed as a lawbreaker. Anyone who tries to keep all of the Law but fails at one point is guilty of failing to keep all of it. The one who said, Don’t commit adultery, also said, Don’t commit murder. So if you don’t commit adultery but do commit murder, you are a lawbreaker. In every way, then, speak and act as people who will be judged by the law of freedom. There will be no mercy in judgment for anyone who hasn’t shown mercy. Mercy overrules judgment.

REFLECT 

Love and mercy. These are the royal laws of God's kingdom. When we show favoritism — honoring the powerful, dismissing the poor — we break God's law. Not because we've violated a rule, but because we've failed to love. And yet: mercy triumphs over judgment. The mercy God has shown us should overflow into how we treat others.

RESPOND 

Who needs your mercy today? Give it freely, as God has given it to you.

PRAY 

Merciful God, teach us to love as you love. Let mercy triumph in our hearts and actions. Amen.