Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.” (Lk 6:36-38)
It is funny how our human nature works, isn’t it? We want all sorts of things. We want respect. We want honor. We want forgiveness. We want riches. We want, we want, we want.
However, we absolutely despise the flip side of the want coin: give. We often fail to give respect, honor, forgiveness, riches. We take and take and take but do not give to others.
Jesus reminds us that we must be a people who can give if we are going to receive, especially since that is the measure that will be measured to us.
If I asked you to make a list of stingy people, of greedy people, of dishonest people, of unforgiving people, how many pieces of paper would you need for each? We all know a lot of people who fit that category.
By the way, on how many of those lists would our own name appear? Be honest.
FAITH ACTION: Have you harshly judged someone? Attempt to make amends.