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Thank God for God
Read Luke 18:9-14
God, be merciful to me, a sinner!
- Luke 18:13 (NRSV)

WHEN I was a volunteer probation officer, I met a deeply troubled woman. She was an alcoholic, a heroin addict, a heavy smoker, and a battered wife. She used to tell me that she had stopped using the heroin and was working on the other problems one at a time. "I can't do it all at once!" she exclaimed, her eyes begging for forgiveness, acceptance, and love.. I.never doubted her rightness with God.
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But in society, there seem to be more self-righteous Pharisees than there are humble tax collectors. We blame women for being raped or beaten. We blame the poor for being unkempt and underfed. We blame the unemployed for not having a decent job. We blame people for low self-esteem and limited opportunities. Yet we are all sinners in need of God's merciful love.

God does not blame any of us for being imperfect. Rather, God calls us to fullness of life John 10: 10). This' does not mean we can abandon moral standards and do anything we please. It does mean that we strive to help one another grow.

We are not asked to judge one another. We are asked to embrace our own call to healing and wholeness and to promote that process in others.
PRAYER: Merciful God, we thank You for Your forgiving and
healing love. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

God loves each of us in spite of ourselves.
Coleen Lynch (Alberta, Canada)
PRAYER FOCUS: Gratitude for God's forgiving love