My mind makes categories: good people, bad people. But that's not how faith works, and it's definitely not how love works. 💫

Mercy is harder. Mercy is looking at someone's failure and thinking about why they might have done it. What were they struggling with? What did they not understand? What fear or pain was driving them? It's the difference between seeing an action and seeing a person. 😔

I've been practicing this—just small moments. Someone is rude and instead of immediately thinking they're a rude person, I think: maybe they're having a terrible day. Maybe they're scared. Maybe they're reacting from something that has nothing to do with me. Maybe they're not their worst moment. 💭

The hardest part is extending this mercy to myself. I make mistakes and immediately I'm angry at myself, I decide I'm the kind of person who does that wrong thing. But if I can try to see others with compassion, why can't I do the same for myself? That's what I'm working on now. Seeing myself not as I failed, but as someone capable of doing better. 🌿

Is it possible to hold people accountable while also being merciful, or do those things contradict each other? 🤔