“For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us —not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy — through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (vv. 3-5)

I’m guessing you’re like me:

When you read that verse—“For we too were once….”—you could fill in the blank with a thousand things. What did your own foolishness look like? What were the hallmarks of your own disobedience?

My list is humbling, and I’m guessing your list is, too.

I thank God for the other side of this reality! I thank God for the centerpiece of the Gospel, which is mercy, poured out by Christ and made know to us by His Spirit. Mercy is my only hope, when I consider the weight of my foolish disobedience. And, just when the Word leads to comprehend that weight, it reintroduces me to the mercy that carries it away to the cross.

That is, by definition, mercy upon mercy.

— Tyler