“Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.”
– Psalm 112:4-5
We’re invited, commanded, and blessed to live lives modeled after the character of God. Regardless of your earthly situation, God will honor and bless an upright life. God is gracious, merciful, and righteous and He wants you to be the same. Unlike God, you’ll never be perfect in these matters, but in Christ, God gives His Spirit to empower you to become like Him in character. Regardless of what you may be “by nature” (whatever that means), the Holy Spirit can transform you to be gracious (giving good things people don’t deserve), merciful (refusing to give bad things people actually deserve), and righteous (not practicing sin).
In Christ, God deals with us generously. He redeemed us though we didn’t earn it. He blesses us with new life though we don’t deserve that. He welcomes us into His family and loves us even though we’re often unlovable. He walks with us even when we try to flee from Him. God invites us, calls us, and expects us to likewise be abundantly generous toward others, especially when they don’t deserve that generosity. We are to care about justice and practice it in our daily lives because God is ultimately and perfectly just.
Walking in the attributes of God is never easy. It goes against human nature. The world certainly views it as naive and foolish. Oh well! May God bless you in abundance for your grace, mercy, righteousness, generosity, and justice!