As we strive to be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect, we should be as merciful as Our Heavenly Father, making mercy our default.

God gives grace from start to finish in a person's relationship with Him. It cannot be limited merely to justification and His forgiveness of our sins.

God is the only perfect example of fatherhood. We need to emulate His virtues, among them being the perfect example of what we want our children to be.

Because we are all sinners, we have earned only death; justification is not earned, but must come through faith and believing God as did our father Abraham.

The ultimate shame for a covenant people is to be found disloyal. God will be faithful to His purpose for humankind and will pursue it to its glorious end.

We can know for sure that we know Him intimately by keeping His commandments and practicing loving kindnesses.

David took all the persecutions from King Saul, and then later showed his mercy to Saul's extended family, he demonstrated the true essence of godly love.

Because kindness is love in action, we must galvanize our thoughts into concrete behaviors, including offering encouraging words and performing uplifting deeds.

We desperately need to internalize the godly traits of kindness, mercy, compassion, and tenderness, displacing the carnal traits of bitterness and wrath.

The harsh religion of the Pharisees was unfeeling, placing more attention on rituals and man-made laws, and had turned their super-righteousness into sin.

The words 'under God' were added to the Pledge in 1954. As our country drifts toward socialism, we need to determine where our true allegiance lies.

The entire life of Christ was a manifestation of God's grace, revealing the nature of God by means of a life lived to give us an example to follow.

The Navy SEALs' fear is not of death, but of failing their team, parallel to the bond Jesus Christ desires among His disciples.

Ezekiel prophetically warns Israelites today of imminent cultural collapse because of ungodly leadership. We must treasure and appreciate the truth we have.

God put up with the foibles of Abraham, Samson, David, Job, and others, allowing them time to repent and build character. We need to develop this godly trait.

As Israel comes to itself, God will gently re-gather His people from their exile, an event which will make reconciliation available to the entire world.

Biblically, patience is far more than simple endurance or longsuffering. The patience that God has shown man gives us an example of what true, godly patience is.

In Lamentations 3, the narrator finally convinces Lady Jerusalem that her own sins have caused her necessary punishment and affliction by God.

Only with the help of God's Holy Spirit are we able to fathom the dimensions of width, breadth, length, and depth of Jesus Christ's and the Father's love.