Receiving God’s Mercy
As C. S. Lewis says in The Four Loves, “Grace substitutes a full, childlike and delighted acceptance of our need, a joy in total dependence. The good man is sorry for the sins which have increased his need. He is not entirely sorry for the fresh need they have produced.”
Brennan Manning • The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
The wayward son is not defined by his prodigality but by the welcome of a father who never stopped looking, who is ever scanning the distance, and who runs to gather him up in an embrace. God is not tapping his foot judgmentally inside the door as you sneak in, crawling over the threshold in shame. He’s the father running toward you, losing his san
... See moreJames K. A. Smith • On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts
We are merely and forever inside of the divine flow, just like Isaiah’s “rain and snow.” Forgiveness is not some churchy technique or formula. Forgiveness is constant from God’s side, which should become a calm, joyous certainty on our side. Mercy received will be mercy passed on, and “will not return to me empty, until it has succeeded in what it
... See moreRichard Rohr • Wondrous Encounters : Scripture for Lent
Sooner or later, a man must find that he cannot do enough, give enough, serve enough, or work hard enough in church or ministry to make God love him more. He can only allow himself to be loved freely. That’s what the Father is looking for — not performance but a receptive heart. The one leads to burnout. The other leads to burning bright.
Michael Thompson • The Heart of a Warrior
Three Goodnesses
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Forgiveness given and forgiveness received are always the pure work of uncreated grace. Such unearned and undeserved forgiveness is necessary to break down the quid pro quo world that I call meritocracy. Only when we experience undeserved love does this inward and outward flow begin to happen. Before that, we are dry, dead cisterns. Before that, we... See more