6月24日
标 题：当怜恤！
经节：你不应当怜恤你的同伴，像我怜恤你吗？（马太福音十八章33节）
怜恤是一项礼物，不是你应得的。受惩罚及承当自己行为的后果，是罪的公义代价，但怜恤人的人不应该向犯罪的人讨公道。若不是神的怜悯，我们所有人早就面临祂可怕的审判。若不是祂的怜悯，我们早在第一次犯罪后就被定罪。若不是祂的怜悯，祂会在我们每次犯罪后惩罚我们。然而，神没有让我们承受应受的惩罚，祂以自己作为我们罪的赎价。
你是否觉得自己很难怀有怜恤心？也许你并不理解神对你的怜恤心。耶稣命令自己的门徒，要以神怜恤自己的心来怜恤他人。当他们想到自己白白得来的怜恤，他们怎能拒绝将这无条件得来的怜恤，传递给其他人呢？比起神无罪之子所承受的谩駡、叫嚣等不应得的待遇，任何对我们的冒犯，又算得了什么呢？我们是多么快地忘却神仁慈赐予的怜悯，只在意自己由他人身上所承受的不平待遇！
如果你发现自己很难饶恕人，你可能需要默想神的恩典，以免你承受神公义的愤怒。圣经曾描述神是“乐意饶恕人，有恩典，有怜悯，不轻易发怒，有丰盛慈爱的神”（尼希米记九：17下）。
Be Merciful!
“Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” (Matthew 18:33)
Mercy is a gift. It is undeserved. Punishment and consequences are sin’s just reward, but the merciful person does not demand justice for the guilty person. If it were not for God’s mercy, we all would have faced His terrible judgment long ago. If not for His mercy, He would have condemned us after our first offense. If not for His mercy, He would punish us each time we sin. But rather than letting us bear the full punishment for our sin, God demonstrated His mercy when He paid the penalty for our sin Himself.
Do you find it hard to show mercy? It may be that you do not comprehend the mercy that God has shown to you. Jesus commanded His disciples to extend the same mercy to others that they had received from God. When they considered the incredible, undeserved mercy they had been granted, how could they refuse to extend the same unconditional mercy to others?
Could anyone sin against us to the same degree that we have sinned against God? Could any offense committed against us be as undeserved as the abuse hurled against the sinless Son of God? How quickly we forget the mercy that God graciously bestowed on us, only to focus on the injustices we endure from others! If you find it difficult to forgive others, you may need to meditate on the mercy of God that prevents you from experiencing God’s justifiable wrath. Scripture describes God as “Ready to pardon, / Gracious and merciful, / Slow to anger, / Abundant in lovingkindness” (Neh. 9:17b).
