God’s Goodness and Mercy

In the beautiful 23rd Psalm we discover that God’s goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life. Maybe we need to ask ourselves what it is that’s really following us in life. Are we being followed by the goodness and mercy of God, or are we being chased and haunted by our past. There is a big difference.
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God’s goodness and mercy are not there to judge and condemn, God’s goodness and mercy are there to set us free from the baggage we have been lugging around so long. We all know John 3:16, we can quote it in our sleep. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.” However, we must not forget verse 17 which clearly states: “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” The truth is, God does not have to condemn us, we do a pretty good job of doing it to ourselves and each other.

Condemning is not what God wants and condemning is not why Jesus came! God wants us to experience grace and forgiveness. God wants us to experience grace because grace leads to mercy and mercy leads to goodness. When we accept and realize God‘s amazing grace and mercy, we no longer doubt our salvation. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism called this “assurance” because we are filled with the assurance of the love, mercy and grace of God. Now that we have that assurance we can live as God wants us to live.

When the assurance we find through the mercy of God and grace of God allows us to maintain our character and be who God called us to be, our lives become “sanctified.” John Wesley called this grace, “sanctifying grace,” the grace that leads us and touches us and molds and grows us into the likeness of Jesus Christ. When our lives become sanctified, we purify our thoughts, our words and our actions. We become Christ-like.

Most of us have heard or maybe even used the phrase: “Don’t worry, I have you covered.” That’s what God’s grace is all about. God’s grace has us covered. No matter what happens in life, God will cover our lives with goodness, mercy and grace. Not only is God leading the way but God’s goodness and mercy are following behind us, strengthening and molding us into the Disciples we have been called to be.


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