Mercy

My History teacher scares me to death. No lie, no exaggeration. You get on this guy's bad side... whew. He spent half the hour lecturing us about how awful our essays on the Mongols were, then spent the other half on how we need to be putting more effort into studying. It's not even funny. Anyways, we've been studying a book called The Prince (that's right; he's so scary that he teaches from his college books), and if you're not familiar with it, it's basically a book written in the Renaissance era. It's like a How to be the Best Leader in the Universe for Dummies manual.
I thought it would be pretty decent, but then my teacher started reading exerts out of it. The writer (some guy who's name starts with an M; I'm not even going to try to spell it) says that For a leader, it's better to be loved than feared. I found that kind of intriguing. Think about it. God is, in essence, the ultimate leader. And in every book, every paragraph and sentence and phrase, He tells us that he wants a love/love relationship with us.
God has all the power in the universe. All of it. He could force us to do anything and everything, but does he, no. He gives us free will. He gives us choice. And in those selections is an invitation to love Him as he loves us.
Think about it. George Washington is thought to be a great man. Why? Because when he practically started America, he was asked if he would like to be a kind of "king". It would mean supreme power. And guess what he said? No. No. He didn't want to have the same thing they had in England, thus he gave up the power he could have had, for the benefit of our country. Only God already has that power. He doesn't have to worry about anyone taking it away from him or abusing it. He chooses to let us decide for ourselves. It's all about mercy for him. Kind of cool, eh?