He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities . . .as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:10,12)
This is getting embarrassing. The incredible amount of long-suffering patience our Lord has is so counter to what we believe. He is not motivated by response but by his own identity. He knows himself perfectly and this means he never changes with the various trials and sins of his children. Often, we take life as it comes – you get whatever emotional response I feel at that particular moment. Yet, God when wronged is still forgiving and when pierced for our iniquities, still filled with a confident love for his people.
Some will say this is weakness. It’s very . . .Ned Flanders.
Forgiveness, compassion, and love are culturally evaluated as being “lesser” traits while strength, grit, and rugged individualism are seen as the higher order. Perhaps what makes the traits of our Lord so powerful is that they are so foreign (next to impossible) to humanity. It is easy to pay back evil for evil, simple to destroy with words, and natural to pull away our affections. It takes a confident and sure being to treat every circumstance with steadfast character. Compassion is messy, simply look at the cross.
Matt simon blog 