Daily Devotional for July 6, 2021
No Punishment
The sound of breaking glass brought Dylan running into the kitchen. “Melanie!” he exclaimed. “What did you do?”
Melanie stared in horror at the shattered pieces of crystal on the floor. “I…I didn’t mean to…”
“That’s the vase Grandpa gave Mom right before he died,” Dylan said. “Boy, is she gonna be mad! She told us to stay away from it and not touch it, but you broke it anyway!”
“What’s the matter?” Both kids jumped at the sound of their mom’s voice. A look of sorrow spread over her face when she saw what had happened.
Melanie burst into sobs. “I didn’t mean to break it, Mom! I was just looking for a pencil, and it just…I’m so sorry!”
Mom put an arm around Melanie. “It’s okay, honey. Don’t cry.”
“She’ll have to buy you another one, won’t she?” said Dylan. “It’ll probably take all her savings to replace it.”
“No,” Mom said sadly. “Some things can’t be replaced, and this is one of them.”
“Then are you going to ground her?” Dylan wanted to know. Mom shook her head. “Take away her screen time?” Dylan asked. When Mom shook her head again, he frowned. “Aren’t you going to punish her at all?”
“No,” said Mom. “I’m going to show her mercy. Melanie has already learned that she needs to be more careful, and she’s shown me she’s very sorry about what happened.”
Dylan crossed his arms. “If I had broken the vase, I wouldn’t have been able to have any fun for a week!” he grumbled.
“That’s not true, Dylan!” said Mom. “Don’t be jealous when mercy is shown to someone else. It’s something we should all be very grateful for. Without God’s mercy, we would all receive the eternal punishment we deserve. But God sent His own Son to take our punishment instead so He could show us mercy, and because we’ve been forgiven, we can show mercy to others. So thank God for His mercy, and be glad when others are shown mercy too. Who knows—tomorrow you may need someone to show mercy to you.”
Dylan hesitated, then he got out the broom and dust pan. “Here, Melanie,” he said. “I’ll help you clean this up.” -Barbara J. Westberg
How about you?
Do you get upset when a guilty person is allowed to go unpunished? It’s important to remember that each one of us is guilty of sinning against God, but He showed us mercy. Jesus died on the cross and rose again so our sins could be forgiven, and He calls us to forgive others and show them mercy. When someone doesn’t get what they deserve, remember that’s what God did for you. Love mercy like He does.
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