Being humble doesn't mean thinking less of yourself. It means thinking of yourself less. And thinking of others more. Being Christ-centered (people-centered) instead of being self-centered. And humbleness of mind is letting the mind of Christ (that's already in you) BE in you. USING the mind of Christ. So that when you're thinking of others, you're thinking the thoughts of God about them. Guys: If God only has one Word (Jesus, love), that means He only has one thought. Because what's inside comes out. What you think is what you say. And that's important because the Word of the King has power (Ecclesiastes 8:4). What you confess is what manifests in your life--either the world's view, or the report of the Lord. What you do flows from what you believe. Judging people, places, and things with a humble heart--not thinking you're better than anyone, or too good to do something--is how you execute righteous judgment. If you're willing to humiliate yourself for someone else... that's love, man. That's love. Jesus got down on His hands and knees to wash His disciples' feet. Not because He could get anything from them, but because He had something for them. Love is never about getting, because love IS giving. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. And if you're thinking about others and not yourself, you can see a need a meet it. You can give what you've got without worry. Without worrying about not having enough, and without worrying about what they're going to do with it after you give it to them. Remember Jonah? He didn't want to preach repentance to Ninevah because he thought they needed to get what was coming to them. But God doesn't think that way. God IS mercy and grace. Mercy being when you don't get what you deserve, and grace being when you get what you don't deserve. In other words, deserve's got nothing to do with it. If we start judging who does and doesn't deserve love, then we've missed the truth that love is unconditional. Love is no respecter of persons. Love doesn't worry about who, or what, or why. Love just... loves. What else could He do? And true love is giving everything you have and everything you are. Laying down your life for your friends. And knowing that you destroy your enemies by MAKING them your friends. By heaping fiery coals onto their heads. Not to hurt them, or burn them, but to melt their hearts. Loving the hell out of people is the only thing that is ever going to make a true, lasting difference. Because change doesn't come from without, change comes from within. When you know (and believe) what's inside... it comes out. Naturally. And that's why you don't need to think less of yourself. You're important. You have what people need. You ARE what people need. Just don't focus on yourself. Don't try to be someone you're not. Be who you are. Be kind. Be merciful. Be humble. Be... love!

When you approach things with a humble heart, you are thinking about others and not yourself. And more specifically, you are thinking about the NEEDS of others. That's the difference between being self-centered and Jesus-centered (people-centered). Jesus loved His disciples so much, He didn't think anything of getting down on His hands and knees (humiliating Himself) and washing their feet. All He cared about was making sure they were clean. That's what love does. That's what love IS. Love is about doing whatever it takes to meet a need. See a need, and if you meet it... meet it. That's love. Giving everything you have and everything you are to someone else. Treating them the way you would like to be treated. Which, in a word, means being kind to them. That's what we really want: We want someone to love us, and care about us, and be kind to us. But when you're coming from a place of lack--trying to GET something--it is impossible to love. Because love is never about getting. Love IS giving. For God so loved the world He GAVE His only begotten Son. And that Son loved us so much that He GAVE His life for us, and to us. Not because He could get anything FROM us, but because He wanted something FOR us. God wanted the best FOR us, so He gave the best TO us. He gave us His Spirit. The Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The truth that God is love and He loves you. The truth that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. That, to me, is the ultimate truth of the universe. And it has nothing to do with what we do. So we have nothing to brag about. God doesn't love you because of what you do. He loves you because of who you are... and who HE is. God IS love. That's not just what He does, that's who He is. And as He is, so are we in this world. So love is not just what WE do, love is who WE are! Humbleness of mind is about letting the mind of Christ, that's already in us, BE in us. USING the mind of Christ. THINKING the thoughts of God. Thoughts of goodness, and not evil. Peace. An expected end that took place 2,000 years ago on the cross when the Old came to an end and the New burst forth. When we were filled with that Holy Spirit--the love receptor--and began to know and believe the love of God. See, God already loved us. He always has and He always will love us. Again, He IS love. That's all He CAN do. The problem was that we didn't know it. Couldn't believe it. God's love for us seemed too good to be true. Because we were judging ourselves by appearance. We were judging ourselves by what we did. Trying to earn something that can't be earned, and falling short every time. Reaching for the carrot but only getting the stick. "One thing you lack." Under the Law there is always one thing you lack. Because all the Law can do is point out what you've done wrong. It demands perfection without being able to produce perfection. But under the New Covenant its not about what you do. Its about who you are. Who you are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in you. If we brag, we brag about HIM. We brag about each other. We reach down to pick each other up instead of kicking each other when we're down. We're not afraid to do what it takes to pick each other up, and lift each other up!

You know what I think is one of the funniest phrases in all of human history? "Don't judge me." Because that's pretty much all we do to everybody and everything all day every day. "That sandwich tasted good." "I didn't like that movie." Snap judgments that are based on first impressions. And sometimes, sure we go back and revise them. Sometimes we--or at least I--will go back and watch that movie again. And I can usually find something to like about it. Because first impressions aren't always correct. Let me say it another way: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24). Jesus said that. Red letters. Which I always associated with being important. Whenever I would ask my Dad a theological question he would direct me to the red letters. And, admittedly, a lot of times I felt like Jesus' disciples. I had no idea what Jesus was talking about. But I think the biggest problem Jesus had with us judging things by appearance is that things are always more than they appear. And when we only look at the surface, we miss what's really going on. So now that I've said all that, I can make my point for today: Jesus didn't say don't judge things. Even when He said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged" in Matthew 7:1, He followed that up with, "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again" (Matthew 7:2). It was more of a warning about HOW you judge than a mandate to not judge. And if you're wondering what any of this has to do with being humble... so am I. Just kidding. I'm getting there. I think. (I hope.) Because when we make that snap judgment, when we judge by appearance, it really says more about US than it does about whatever we're judging. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. Bitter people can only give bitterness, and judge everything through the lense of bitterness. Hurting people can only hurt people and judge everything through the lense of their hurt. Once you've been hurt in a certain way--and I'm talking about deep, emotional pain--it seems like everything else stems from that wound. If you've been cheated on, you see cheaters everywhere. You can't judge righteous judgment from that place of bitterness, and pain, and betrayal, and hurt. And judging righteous judgment doesn't mean you sit on your high horse and get all self-righteous and put everyone else down. "Judging" righteous judgment really means EXECUTING the righteous judgment that God passed down from Father to Son on the cross. Not a death sentence, but an everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life sentence! And that's where being humble comes in. Its not thinking less of yourself, its thinking about yourself less. Its knowing that you are who you're supposed to be, and you have what you need to have. Because when you know who you are you can stop trying to be someone you're not. When you know what you've got you can stop trying to get something and you can give what you've got. When you judge--and you can, will, and do judge things all of the time--do it from a humble heart. From a place of helping, not hurting. Not from a place where I think I'm better than you, but from a place of me WANTING better for you. Seeing a need and meeting it. That's righteous. And that's what God did for us. So that's what we can do for each other!

Humbleness of mind is another way of saying "humiliation of mind." And that's what I want to talk about today. Because there are times in our lives when acting like a fool in love is the absolute best thing we can do. Humiliating ourselves in order to help someone else is, admittedly, a hard thing to do. But its a pretty awesome display of love. Look at John 13:4-5, "He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded." Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords, down on His hands and knees washing the dirt off His disciples' feet. Humiliating Himself for their benefit. Because He didn't care what He looked like. He simply wanted His disciples to be clean. Its like we've somehow created this awful sense of entitlement. We think the world owes us. And its ironic that we HAVE been given everything we could ever need by our heavenly Father, but I digress. We seem to think we don't ever have to do anything. Guys... rest is not inactivity. You can't be a Spiritual couch potato and think you're operating from a place of rest. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. And the Holy Spirit only directs us to do one thing: Love. Just like God only has one Word: Jesus. Love. And, yes, love comes in many forms. People love in different ways and people receive love in different ways. That's why we're looking at some of the different aspects of love. Its important that we follow that old Golden Rule and treat others the way we want to be treated. And I don't mean do something to them that you wish they'd do to you. That's a receipe for disaster. I mean, if you want to be loved... love. Pretty simple. Be kind. Be merciful. Be humble. Don't think you're better than anyone else. Don't think helping people--in they way they need to be helped, not necessarily in the way you want to help them--is beneath you. Don't look down on people. If someone's down, reach down and help them up. Give people a chance. Put them in a position to succeed. Even if it means you have to do a little scrubbing. Even if it takes a little elbow grease. I think, most of the time, you get what you pay for. Good things take time, and they take maximum effort. Love is the most effort you can put into something. Because love is giving everything you have and everything you are. Love is being willing to act a fool. To get down on your hands and knees. To humiliate yourself. And I think a lot of times laughter is the best medicine. If you can make someone laugh... there's this kid at my job, and sometimes he gets really upset. So what I do is I trick him into being happy. By doing big, giant, elaborate fake sneezes. Or pretending that the water from the drinking fountain is so cold that it makes me shiver. Anything I can do to literally turn that frown upside down. And then, when he's not mad anymore, we can continue on with what we were supposed to be doing. And I know I look foolish when I'm clowning for him, but I sure don't care. Because I love him. And I want to help him. I'm not too good, or too cool, or too high and mighty to do what needs to be done. In fact, that's one of my mottos: You gotta do what you gotta do. Even if its humiliating. Because that's called being humble. That's called love!

We're continuing our in-depth look at Colossians 3:12, "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering." And before we get into the humbleness of mind--or the mind of the humble One--I just want to reiterate that the "putting on" is really a "sinking in." Its not a garment that we don't have on but need to put on. Its a garment that we've been wearing all the time but are just starting to get comfortable with. And I know I use these two verses any time I talk about the mind of Christ, but I want to set a strong foundation to build on for the next few days. So I'm going to link 1 Corinthians 2:16, "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ," and Philippians 2:5, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." That, to me, is the key. We HAVE the mind of Christ. But we must LET the mind of Christ (that we already have) BE in us. We have to USE the mind of Christ. Not just KNOW the thoughts of God--thoughts of goodness, and peace, not evil, and an expected end that came 2,000 years ago on the cross--but THINK the thoughts of God. Set our affections on things above, not on things on the earth. Love people because of who they are (and who WE are) not because of what they do (or don't do). So, again, this humbleness of mind is not something we need to aspire to. It is something we are already capable of. Not something we need to get. Something we've already got. Something (someONE) we already are! So. Foundation. The phrase "humbleness of mind" is number 5012 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "humiliation of mind, that is, modesty: - humility (of mind), lowliness (of mind)." And I've always said, being humble doesn't mean thinking less of yourself, it simply means thinking of yourself less. That's the difference between being self-centered and Christ-centered (people-centered). You look within, and you know and believe that you have what you need... and then you look without, and you share what you've got with those that need it. And, by the way, EVERYBODY needs what you've got. Because what you've got is love. And that is the basic human need. That is the desire of all of our hearts. The trick with letting the mind of Christ (that's already in you) be in you is being humble. Jesus said, "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:4). And what did that little kid do? Jesus set him in the midst of His disciples. Basically he sat on Jesus' lap. That was what always marked a humble athlete to me: He didn't want, or take, any of the credit. He exalted his teammates, or his coaches, or his God. When we sit in our heavenly Father's lap, in a posture of rest, and stop trying to be a big shot... stop trying to do everything for ourselves and by ourselves... that's when GOD can exalt us. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up" (James 4:10). And, listen, if your goal is to be lifted up you've kind of completely missed the point. Because the point is: When you're humble, God can use you. He can live in you, and through you, and as you. Availiablity is more important than ability. What you're willing to do is more important than what you can do. And that's where we'll pick up tomorrow.

When something comes from deep within--from the bowels, if I can say it that way--its about the most real thing you can experience. Because the only way for you to know (and believe) that it--love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, kindness... GOD--is in there is for you to experience it. That's what happened on the cross: we were given mercy, grace, forgiveness, kindness... love... when Jesus gave Himself FOR us, and TO us. We, as a human race, experience the greatest expression of love that there is; Jesus laid His life down for us. And then He picked it back up so that we could have it. So that we could experience HIS life, not by trying to live it ourselves, but by letting HIM live His own abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life in us, and through us, and as us. He equipped and empowered us with everything we would ever need. He reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconcilation. He wanted the best for us--because we are His elect, His favorite, the apple of His eye--so He gave the best to us. He gave HIMSELF to us. When we needed it most, God gave us mercy. He didn't kick us when we were down. He reached down and helped us up. When we were dead in our trespasses and sins He quickened us and brought us back to life. So that (and this should make sense but it seems to shock some people) we might live. Jesus came that we might have LIFE. And since living and loving are the same thing... to live is to love and to love is to live... Jesus came that we might have love. That's what all of the fruit of the Spirit are: Aspects of love. That's what the "Love Chapter" is all about: It is a personality profile of Jesus. And, since we are as He is, it is a personality profile... of us. Our true selves. Not who the world says we are, or who the world wants us to be. Not who are past tries to define us as. But who GOD says we are. His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Another word for "mercy" is "pity." And while that, to me, usually comes with something of a negative connotation, that (again) is what happened to us on the cross. God had pity on us. Jesus cried out, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." We were dark, and void, and without form. We were trying to do the best we could with what we had, but we were convinced we didn't have anything. All we could do was run around like chickens with our heads cut off, looking for love in all the wrong places. Remember when we talked about how babies cry, not because they're spoiled but because they need something and don't know what else to do. That, to me, was humanity before the cross. We were desperate for something that we knew we needed, but were entirely unable to get for ourselves. We didn't know what we were doing. So we nailed the Savior of the world to an old rugged cross. It was all we could come up. And that's when God had pity on us. He saw how helpless we were, and He decided to help. He showed His love for us by giving His life for us (and to us) when we were yet sinners. When we were at our worst, He gave us His best. He showed us what we were capable. Deep down inside. He showed us mercy. And now, because we've experienced it, we can show it to each other. We can be merciful. We can be love!

I think its interesting that every time God (LOVE) has power over us, He does what is RIGHT for us. He never uses His power to dominate. And I like to quote 2 Corinthians 5:14 from the New Living Translation as much as possible, "Either way, Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life." Because love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way... but Christ's love DOES control us. Either we think we don't have it and we do everything in our power to try to get it--looking for love in all the wrong places and making things worse and worse for ourselves and those around us--or we know and believe the love of Christ and we do everything we do in service to that love. When you know that you are loved... you can love. You are COMPELLED to love. Because love is too big to stay hidden inside us. What's inside DOES come out. Or, I should say, what you BELIEVE is inside comes out. What you do flows from what you believe. But my point is, when we were yet sinners (before the cross), when we needed mercy the most... that's exactly what God gave us. He gave us His life because, while there was nothing we could do for Him, He loved us and wanted to do everything for us. And let me qualify that: I love my son, Logan, and I want to do everything for him. I want him to have the best life that he can have. But that doesn't mean I DO everything for him. We have a rule and it goes like this, "Son, if you try your best and you need help... I will help you 100% of the time. But you have to try. You have to do what you can do." Because I want him to grow up to be a capable human being. I don't want him to be helpless. I want him to be helpful. I want him to be USEFUL (remember that Rant series about kindness?). But in the matter of Spiritual things, we don't have to try our best before God steps in. I mean, I guess in a sense we DID try our best before the cross. We did what we could with what we thought we had. The problem was, we didn't think we had anything. So we couldn't really do anything. "I'll scratch your back in the hopes that you'll scratch mine" was about as much as we could do. But then Jesus came to show us a more excellent way. To show us that turning the other cheek is better than an eye for an eye. To show us that once someone has forgiven you, you can forgive others. Once someone has been merciful to you, you can be merciful to others. And He told at least one parable to that effect--the one about the rich guy who forgave a debt, but then the guy who was forgiven DIDN'T forgive his neighbor's debt. And that was no good. Because we were created to receive and release. To fill ourselves to overflowing with what God has filled us with--His Spirit, His love, Himself--and let it come out. Naturally. When something is filled to overflowing you don't have to force it out. You can't keep it in at that point! And that's how the Kingdom economy works--freely you have received, freely give. You were shown mercy... show some mercy. Don't kick people when they're down. REACH down and help them up. Don't lord over people, or try to control, or dominate people. Just love the hell out of people and let things work themselves out. Its all about love, guys. Its all about love...

Receiving and releasing. Receiving BY releasing. Its so vitally important. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. When we needed mercy the most Jesus cried out to His Father and said, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." When we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. When we couldn't do anything for ourselves, Jesus did it all. Gave it all. Everything He had and everything He is. He gave His life FOR us, and He gave His life TO us. Because He loved us and He wanted us to have it. He gave us mercy, and didn't hold our wrongs against us. He gave us grace and equipped and empowered us to live HIS life of love by living it Himself in us, and through us, and as us. Mercy--not getting what you deserve. Grace--getting what you don't deserve. God wanted us to have it all so He gave it all to us. And we receive this glorious gift of God--eternal life, knowing the Father in the context of being His beloved Son--by releasing it. We don't just live IN the Kingdom of God (the Kingdom of Love), we ARE the Kingdom of God (the Kingdom of Love). Because the Kingdom is the realm where the King rules and reigns. Jesus rules and reigns in us. He is the King of kings. He is our true identity; Jesus, God in the flesh, love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. Bursting at the seams to get out. Too big, and too powerful, and too good to keep in. Not too good to be true, but so good that it MUST be true. That's why Jesus referred to Himself as the Truth. He is the Truth about God--He told Phillip, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father"--and He is the truth about US. He is the truth about love. And one giant component of love is mercy. And not just mercy but the bowels of mercy. The mercy that comes from deep inside because in our darkest hour, when we needed it most, it was extended to us. My point is... we can give it, because we have it. Let me say what i'm trying to say with a memory verse, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18). Its not something we have to do by ourselves, or for ourselves. God reconciled us to Himself, and gave us the ministry of reconcilation. Which simply means to be a good and faithful witness. To let people know what happened to us. To let people know that it has happened to them too. We don't have to reconcile people to God. Again, He already did that. We just have to let people know what He did. We don't have to finish the work. It is finished. We simply need to let poeple know what the finished work is, and what it means that it is finished. God loves us, so we ought to love each other. That's as simple as I can make it. And that, by the way, is the New Commandment for the New Man: Love one another as Jesus has loved you. Forgive others as you have been forgiven. Extend mercy as it was extended to you. Recieve it and release it. Receive it BY releasing it. Let the love of God (that has already filled you up) fill you to overflowing and come out all on its (HIS) own. Naturally. Because love is our new (TRUE) nature. Its not just what we do. Its who we are!

The thing about mercy is that it is, by definition, undeserved. If you need mercy, that means you're in the soup. In the soup up to your eyeballs. You messed up, bad. And your only choice is to throw yourself at the mercy of the court. Get it? That's why that phrase exists. But now watch this--I quoted this verse yesterday but I just plain can't think of a better example of mercy--"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). When we were dead in our trespasses and sins... God gave us life. And not just any life. HIS life. The abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Jesus. He gave us His only Son. He gave us Himself. He didn't just die for us, He rose again to live IN us. And through us. And as us. Jesus didn't just give His life FOR you, He gave His life TO you. Mercy and grace, right? Mercy is NOT getting what you deserve, and grace is getting what you don't deserve. Not getting the death sentence that religious folk think God was so eager to give out at the cross, but getting a literal life sentence. God's judgment against the world was not, "You're a sinner so I'm going to kill you." Again, we were already dead in our trespasses and sins. God's judgment was accepting Jesus' sacrifice and then raising Him (and us IN Him) FROM the dead. He gave us mercy. He showed us His love. And He gave us grace on top of it. The unmerited favor of God. Remember we touched on the idea of being God's elect, or the apple of His eye, or His favorite, in the last Rant series. He wanted the best FOR us, so He gave the best TO us. Not because we could do anything for Him, but simply because He wanted us to have it. Simply because He loves us. Because He IS love. And when you love someone, you don't kick them when they're down. When you love someone you reach down and help them up. You don't keep a record of wrongs. You don't make sure they get what's coming to them. You protect them. I think that's why I've always loved super heroes so much, and why I've always hated bullies so much. The idea of someone being mean to someone else is offensive to me. Especially someone powerful using that power to be mean. And, to toot my own horn a little bit, I've passed that on to my son. He always stands up for people. He's a big time fan of the little guy. The underdog. If someone needs help... Logan's got their back. Makes me a proud poppa. But I digress. My point is that since we have what people need, we ought not lord it over them. We ought not make them jump through hoops in order to get what they so desperately need. Because if you desperately need something, you probably can't jump through a hoop to get it. You're probably at the end of your rope. And if you are, I say tie a knot in it. Understand that as hard as you think you're holding on to God... fighting not to let go... He's been holding on to you from the very beginning. And He will NEVER let you go. When you had nothing to offer, He gave you everything He had. And everything He is. When you needed it the most, God showed you mercy!

I just kind of like the phrase, "bowels of mercy." We're going to look at what it means, from our key verse for this kind of ultra Rant series about Colossians 3:12, but before we get into that I just want to give my off the top impression. To me, the bowels of mercy are like the deep deep. Deep calleth out to deep, right? And what's inside is what comes out. Every time. The tricky part about what's deep inside is that it is sometimes buried under a lot of other... stuff. And sometimes it takes a lot for what's REALLY inside to get out past what the world TELLS you is inside. That's why what you believe is so important--either the world's report, or the report of the Lord. Either what the world is screaming at you, or what you hear from the still, small voice of God. So. Let's quote Colossians 3:12, "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering." And let's define "bowels of mercies." "Bowels" is number 4698 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "the spleen; an intestine (plural); figuratively pity or sympathy: - bowels, inward affection, tender mercy." And "mercies" is number 3628 and it means, "pity: - mercy." Which isn't super helpful. So I went to my trusty dictionary.com and found that mercy is defined as, "compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence." Have pity on me. Have mercy on me. I've wronged you, and there's nothing I can do about it... but please forgive me. Right? Let me say it another way: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). And one more way, "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do..." (Luke 23:34). When we had nothing to offer God--when we were dead in our trespasses and sins--He gave us everything. He loved us. He gave us everything He had and everything He is. Guys, He didn't just give His life FOR us, He gave His life TO us. He showed us the mercy we desperately needed, but were powerless to get. We couldn't earn it. At most we could just keep digging our graves. Trying to earn our bread by the sweat of our brows. Running around the hampster wheel of a man-centered, performance based religion and not getting anywhere. I'm telling you, it was (WE WERE) dark and void and without form. And yet, the Spirit of God hovered over the deep. Even when we didn't know it, He was right there. Guarding and protecting us. Picking us up when we stumbled and fell. And then, at the appointed time, He spoke. He said, "Let there be light." He gave us His only begotten Son. He inserted love into the situation. From the very deep... from His bowels, or His innermost being... He gave us mercy. He didn't keep a record of wrongs and make sure we paid for every last thing we did. He wiped the slate clean. He gave us a new life. HIS life. So that we might live His life by letting Him live it in us, and through us, and as us. So that we might know the love of Christ, and love each other with that same love. So that we might know mercy, and be merciful to each other!