Cut People Some Slack BY RICK WARREN — 75  04-24-17-Miracle-Mercy-Cut-People-Some-Slack “Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love” (Ephesians 4:2b TLB). Everybody has bad days. Kay knows that I have two touchy times every week. I’m touchy on Saturday afternoon because I’m focused on the message I am about to preach. And the other time I’m touchy is Monday morning, because I’m drained from preaching all weekend and talking to people between services. So Kay makes allowances for that. She cuts me some slack. That’s a key part of how you deal with EGRs (people with Extra Grace Required). In the last few devotionals, I’ve mentioned that in dealing with EGRs we need to look behind the behavior and refuse to be offended. But we also must deal with them like Kay deals with me when I’m in a touchy mood: We have to cut them some slack. The Bible says, “Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of you

Opening Our Eyes to the Needs Around Us BY RICK WARREN — “Do not look out only for yourselves. Look out for the good of others also” (1 Corinthians 10:24 NCV). Few passages in Scripture give us a more complete view of mercy than Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan. In this memorable parable, we can learn four specific lessons about how we can demonstrate mercy. In the next four devotionals we’ll look at each of those important lessons. First, we must see the needs of people around us. Mercy always begins in the eyes. You have to see the need before you can meet the need. You can’t care until you are aware. The Bible says, “When [the Samaritan] saw the man, he felt compassion for him” (Luke 10:33b NLT, second edition). Just like the Good Samaritan, you have wounded people all around you. You just don’t see them. They may not have been physically beaten or bruised, but they have been beaten up by life. They’ve been bruised by circumstances and the attitudes and opinions of other pe