When laws are tempered with compassion…hearts can be transformed.

(Listen to my song “Radically Okay” on YouTube by clicking HERE)

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Matthew 12:7

“If you knew what this meant, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these innocent men.”

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Jesus said this after the Pharisees had just criticized his followers for picking the heads of grain in a field and eating them on the sabbath.

Reaping grain on the sabbath was against religious law.

Laws and rules are good in that they help us keep our focus, give us guidelines, and help us avoid chaos.

But Jesus says the motivation for our actions should always be filtered through mercy.

Love has higher priority than the law in God’s eyes.

Jesus’ followers were picking grain because they were truly hungry. A human need was at stake.

Which is more important…a human need or upholding a law?

When it’s a choice between keeping a rule or extending God’s mercy…the rule needs to be bent or broken.

In that light, each of us must ask ourselves: How merciful am I to others…and myself?

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Listen to my song “Radically Okay” on the Mercy Reigns album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!