Mercies are New

I am constantly amazed by the gracious nature of our God, actually am just really grateful that He is indeed God. He is so quick to forgive and forget, I just stand in awe of it. For the number of times that I miss the mark, the number of times that I screw up in any given day, He holds nothing against me. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
It strikes me as a really remarkable thing to forgive sins and purify us from all unrighteousness, considering how incredibly unrighteous I can be. He doesn't hold it against me. He doesn't keep a record of all the wrongs that I have done. He doesn't classify me as sinner, but as child, as priest, as righteous, all because of His Son's blood.
Sometimes our human nature makes it quite difficult to let things go, to forget about past hurts or wrongs done. We tend to label and classify based on past interactions. And we can be quick and bold in doing this. We talk about how people just have a habit of getting in trouble, or letting us down, or hurting us. We say things like, "I don't expect much more out him" or "He's known to be troublesome." Women can be the worst in this act, especially towards other women, saying things like, "She's such a drama queen, always looking for attention" or "She's always got some sort of trouble in her life." Sometimes we set ourselves up to be hurt, looking for the worst in people or situations, telling ourselves it will hurt less if we expect it.
Lies. They are all lies. Schemes of the enemy to divide us and divide our hearts. If we can look at each other and first see all the things that are different and wrong, then we are conquered as a people. If we recognize how different we are before we see what binds us together, the image of the Almighty God breathed into our lives, then we are totally defeated.
I can think of days when my toddler has pushed her limits, moment to moment battling for ground. At the end of the day I would feel exhausted, and would comment to my husband about how troublesome she's been or how challenging she's been. That paints a negative picture that would then characterize my precious little girl. It's wrong and I repent of it. We are not to divide. We are not to judge and characterize one of God's creations. It's not our place. Only the Creator Himself can do that.
And by His great mercy, He does not characterize us, or else I would have been labeled a failure and trouble-maker long ago. But that's not what He calls me. He calls me loved. He calls me precious. And the moment I confess my wrong, it does not cross His mind again. As far as the East is from the West. He doesn't get to the end of a day and remember all the times that I tested Him, challenged Him, and was disobedient to Him. His mercies are new, from moment to moment, His love for me is new and refreshed. As so He arrives at the end of a day and loves me with the same fresh, faithful heart as the one He started out with. My heart should be the same.