10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” - Jonah 4:10-11
Dear Heavenly Father,
Your concern and compassion for all people and even for all the animals is the foundation of our entire existence. It's your love that made us and it's your love that forgives us when we fall. Not one of us lives outside your mercy and yet we so often want justice more than mercy. Give me your heart, that loves all people, even all creation with compassion and grace. Make me long for the restoration of all people more than I do for the satisfaction of justice. Help me find in your cross the payment for sins so I am free to love people as much as you are.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
We live inside of God's love. In here there is no room for suffocating anger and criticism.
Additional Reading: Matthew 12:1-14