I need mercy A LOT.

I know when I’m tired and overwhelmed and just need a break from normal responsibilities. ⁣

I know when I should have done more, but I just couldn’t.

I know I need mercy.

But extending mercy to others in my life has not always been natural. ⁣

⁣From my outside perspective, it’s hard to see the extenuating circumstances that other people deal with.

Despite this, I’ve really tried to be intentional about extending mercy towards the people I interact with recently.

And guess what I learned?⁣!

Showing mercy and extreme kindness to other people hasn’t changed their actions at all. ⁣

But it has completely changed my heart. ⁣

Our loving God knows exactly how to extend both justice and mercy in exactly the ways we need.

And we mortals have to try and do our best as we interact with others.

When I’m parenting, I’ve found this balance of justice and mercy can be tricky to find.

When do my kids need me to stop the fun and enforce bedtime?

And when do they need me to throw the rules aside and laugh with them a little more? ⁣

But in general, I’ve never regretted extending mercy.

When I’ve dealt with difficult interactions in my calling, disappointing results, or awkward encounters, extending mercy has always been better in the long run.

And our Heavenly Father delights in sharing both His justice and His perfect mercy with us.

Which means, in order to become like Him, we need to delight in indulging others with our mercy. ⁣

“Loving mercy means that we do not just love the mercy God extends to us; we delight that God extends the same mercy to others.” – Dale G. Renlund ⁣

A tough thing to do in a world as tough as ours. ⁣

But a necessary step in order to soften our hearts and respond in kindness and mercy.

“For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.” (3 Nephi 22:7)

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Delighting in mercy first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Which wouldn’t normally be a big deal because I had studied music my whole life— and this class was EXTREMELY easy music theory. ⁣

The professor started the class by saying, “Alright, the test scores from your exam in the testing center last week were pretty good!”⁣

My heart sank. ⁣

I hadn’t taken any test. There wasn’t anything in the syllabus about this.

I had missed one of three exams that my class grade would be based on. ⁣

At the end of the lecture class, I sheepishly walked up to my professor’s podium. ⁣

I took full responsibility for my mistake and asked him if there was anything I could do for even partial credit. ⁣

He looked at me for a moment…

And he said, “My office hours are from 1-3 tomorrow afternoon. If you can be there, you can take the test in my office.”⁣

I thanked him profusely and took the test in his office the following day. ⁣

When I checked my score online a few days later, I saw that I had received 100% on the exam. ⁣

I was so grateful for my professor’s GRACE in allowing me to take an exam after the testing period had closed, something that was completely my fault. ⁣

But I was also grateful for his JUSTICE in scoring the exam, where I was given full credit for every question that I got correct. ⁣

I noticed that in 2 Nephi 9, Jacob praises God for His “mercy and grace” (v8) AND says, “O the greatness and the justice of our God!” (v17)⁣

We praise God for offering us His MERCY when we don’t do what we are supposed to, and feel full sorrow for it. ⁣

We praise God for offering us JUSTICE when we are actually doing our best, giving us credit for our intentional good deeds.

Both justice and mercy are the kindest things that our God can offer us, and only He is the perfect example of knowing when to extend each gift.

“How great, how glorious, how complete

Redemption’s grand design,

Where justice, love, and mercy meet

In harmony divine!”

-“How Great the Wisdom and the Love”, Hymn 195

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Mercy and justice for a college class first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Which wouldn’t be a big deal because I had studied music my whole life, and this class was extremely easy music theory.

The professor started the class by saying, “Alright, the test scores from your exam in the testing center last week were pretty good!”

My heart sank.

I hadn’t taken any test. I had missed one of three exams that my class grade would be based on.

At the end of the lecture class, I sheepishly walked up to his podium.

I took full responsibility for my mistake and asked him if there was anything I could do for even partial credit.

He looked at me and said, “My office hours are from 1-3 tomorrow afternoon. If you can be there, you can take the test in my office.”

I was so gracious and took the test in his office the following day.

When I checked my score online a few days later, I saw that I had received 100% on the exam.

I was go grateful for my professor’s GRACE in allowing me to take an exam after the testing period has closed, something that was completely my fault.

But I was also grateful for his JUSTICE in scoring the exam, where I was given full credit for every question that I got correct.

I noticed that in 2 Nephi Chapter 9, Jacob praises God for His “mercy and grace” (v8) AND says, “O the greatness and the justice of our God!” (v17)

We praise God for offering us His MERCY when we don’t do what we are supposed to, and feel full sorrow for it.

We praise God for offering us JUSTICE when we are actually doing our best, giving us credit for our intentional good deeds (or intentional bad deeds).

Both justice and mercy are the kindest things that our God can offer us, and only He is the perfect example of knowing when to extend each gift.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Great mercy and great justice first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.