Once we have been made new on the inside, we have a
responsibility to learn and study and keep ourselves away
from the filth. Even when we fall down, if we repent of
our sin, God will cleanse us. When we deserve judgment,
God gives us mercy. And the Word says in 1 Corinthians
11:31 that if you will judge yourself, you will not be judged.
God will judge us in mercy and not with the world. He is
merciful to those who judge themselves.

Most of the time, I am harder on myself than He is. In
judging ourselves, we need to remember to forgive ourselves
and walk in the forgiveness God gives us. The Bible says
to love our neighbor as ourselves. If we go overboard in
judging ourselves, we are not going to be able to love our
neighbor because we will not be able to love ourselves.

God sent mercy and not judgment to us in the form of
Jesus. He was born into the world, died on the Cross and
was reborn from the dead by the mercy of God.

First Timothy 1:14-15 says: “And the grace of our Lord
was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in
Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners; of whom I am chief.”

The Apostle Paul was talking about himself as the
chief of sinners. He meant that salvation was extended
to every human being on the earth through the abundant
mercy of God. The message is true for everyone, and on
that basis it is worthy for them to accept it.

Gloria Copeland

It was out of the love and mercy of God that salvation
was born. Then, in Titus 3:3-5 it says:

For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish,
disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and
pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and
hating one another. But after that the kindness
and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Ghost.

The word love in this passage is sometimes translated
“pity.” This is not a good substitute. It should be correctly
translated “mercy” as it is in other places. The thought here
should be that just as salvation is an act of mercy, so is the
Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to us as mercy and
comfort. He also prayed and asked the Father to send us
the Comforter, who has the same ministry of mercy to us
that Jesus had.

When a person makes Jesus the Lord of his life, the
Holy Spirit changes the nature of the person on the inside.
Then, through the work of the Holy Spirit, the outer man
begins to be changed. Romans 12:2 tells us we are not to be
conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing
of our minds. The Holy Spirit reveals the Word of God
to us, and if we are obedient to His Word, our habits and
behavior begin to change. The outer man is not changed
overnight. The Holy Spirit conforming you to the image of
Jesus is a process.

A good illustration of this is the difference between a
mule and a racehorse. You can take a mule and raise him
in the stable with thoroughbreds. You can give that mule
the same food and treatment as a thoroughbred racehorse.
You can even do plastic surgery on his ears and make him
look pretty good. But when you take him out there to the
starting gate and that bell goes off, the mule is a mule and
there is no doubt about it. He gets left behind. Why? He is
not a mule on the outside, he is a mule on the inside.

God in His mercy knew you could not do anything
about the junk on the inside of you. So instead of asking
you to clean yourself up, He asked you to receive Him
and let Him clean you up. It was His mercy that hung on
the Cross and sent you the Holy Ghost to be a Comforter
to you.

Gloria Copeland

I know people who come to meetings where I preach
and spend their entire time criticizing what I have on and
miss what I say. I am not saying you should not dress well.
I think you should represent Jesus Christ in a right way by
looking your best with what you have. If you are faithful
over little, He will make you master over much. However,
we need to put our emphasis in the right places. Many
times we have done just the opposite.

Another minor that we have majored in is sacrifice. It
seems like everyone has wanted to give up something for
God. God desires mercy rather than sacrifice. Mercy is the
major. Mercy is when you give to people out of your heart
because you love them and want to see them prosper.

Please do not misunderstand me. Sacrifice is necessary
in an obedient Christian’s life and needs to be studied. If you
will learn mercy while you are learning how to sacrifice,
then your sacrifice will count. The Apostle Paul said that
even if he gave his body to be burned and gave everything
he had to the poor and did not have love, he would gain
nothing. So, if you major in the sacrifice without the mercy,
it doesn’t do any good. You do not impress God.

When you give from a mercy motive, it starts flowing
toward you. As I begin to give, it is given to me again.
The more I give, the more I receive and vice versa.
It then becomes a continuous cycle of reaching out to
others. This is the way mercy works.

Gloria Copeland