New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional

by Paul David Tripp

We can all be so forgetful. We can all fail to remember the magnificence of the love and mercy that has been showered down on us. We can all forget that we never could have earned or deserved the best things in our lives; they are only ours by means of grace. Here’s the problem: to the degree that you forget the grace that you have been given, to that same degree it is easier for you not to extend grace to others. To the extent that you forget how much you’ve been forgiven, to that same extent it is easier for you not to forgive the people in your life. If you fail to carry around with you a heart of gratitude for the love you’ve been so freely given, it is easy for you not to love others as you should. It is and always has been true that no one gives grace better than a person who is deeply persuaded that he needs it himself and that it has been graciously supplied by a God of tender mercy. He gives what we never could have earned; why, then, do we turn and refuse to give until others have measured up to whatever standard we hold them to? The call to forgive immediately exposes our need for forgiveness. The call to give grace reveals how much we need grace. The call to forgive is at the very same time a call to remember and to be thankful. When you remember how far you fall short, you are tenderhearted toward others who fall short, and you want for them the same grace that is your only hope. May God give us the grace to remember and the willingness to give to others what ...