I was reading Deuteronomy 24. It just happened to come up when I opened my online Bible for a bit of inspiration this morning. Most of it is about having a kind heart towards the poor and those who owe us - and not making them suffer in their debt - especially since they themselves had been slaves with nothing, and owed everything they now had to God.
I know he was giving the Israelites practical instruction on how to live generous and caring lives, but it strikes me that it has a spiritual application for us as well. None of us is in a position to think of ourselves as better than anyone else. We should never feel we have the right to be hard-hearted and harsh with others - even if we feel they might "owe us bigtime!" God wants us to keep our hearts warm and generous, even when our instinctive response might be to react hard heartedly.
It is more important for you to maintain the compassion and love that he meant for your heart to carry, than to teach a well-earned lesson to another.
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