There are strange contradictions in our contemporary society. On the one hand, a previous morality has been swept aside and people now tolerate things that earlier generations regarded as morally wrong. On the other hand, people in the public eye who fall foul of the moral judgements of social media are mercilessly attacked. Their faults are magnified with no possibility of being able to put things right. Social media morality is the new absolute.

But the reality is that all of us make mistakes and do wrong things. Pointing out other people’s faults can be a way of deflecting attention from our own faults. Jesus warned his disciples about hypocritically judging other people. He said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

We all need to find God’s forgiveness for the many wrong things we do. The Bible reveals that God is merciful. In Psalm 130 the psalmist says, “If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.” The Apostle John wrote, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

When we experience God’s forgiveness, we must be ready to forgive others. In the Lord’s Prayer we say, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Jesus underlined the importance of this when he said, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Our lives and our society would be transformed if we could regain our moral integrity by being honest about our own sinfulness and also being merciful towards others who, like us, fail and sin. Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”