Sun, 07/19/2026 - 11:55am

CEO Eastgate Ministries

The phone rang. The caller was one of my students who attended the School of the Holy Spirit. “Pastor Roy, are you available for counsel?” Her voice, desperate and pleading for help, sounded urgent. “OK,” I responded. “I can meet with you in one hour.”

Sitting across from me, she told me her story. I listened as she described the fierce attacks she was enduring at the hands of her mean-spirited daughter, who was forcing her out of her apartment. As a senior citizen, she was suffering major abuse. For some reason, her daughter was oppressing her with a hateful vengeance.

Like an erupting volcano, she vented her bitterness, anger, and frustration. Appalled that anyone would treat their mother this way, I showed compassion and pity. I offered some suggestions for where she could get help. After praying with her, I went home.

Later, as I was enjoying a hamburger, I felt depressed. “What is wrong with me?” I asked myself. “This isn’t like me.” So, I asked my heavenly Father and heard, “Today, in counsel, you displayed unsanctified mercy.” Instead of helping her address her issues, I sanctified the reasons she was feeling this way. It was not her daughter's situation that God wanted to rectify, but the condition of her heart.

By showing compassion without loving correction, I was justifying her bitter, angry heart. In doing so, I grieved God’s grace by empowering her to remain in darkness. I repented, and the peace and joy of the Lord returned. I learned a lesson. What you accept can also open the door to spiritual oppression in your life.

What is unsanctified mercy? Unsanctified mercy results from justifying things contrary to God’s divine nature, thoughts, and ways. Often, by validating a person’s ungodly character and ill behavior, we strengthen them by justifying their position. As valid as they may seem, we can love them without being a party to their issues. As Christians, we are often expected to display pity and understanding in the name of compassion and tolerance, while overlooking sound biblical teaching.

I should have turned her focus to Christ, in whom her victory lies. Rather than allowing her to be steeped in the darkness that overshadowed her, I should have turned her focus to the freedom that is hers in Christ Jesus. From being a captive victim to the victory Jesus won at Calvary, who came to open prison doors to set the captives free.

As a former Evangelist, she knew Proverbs 4:23, which urges us to guard our hearts and thoughts with all diligence, “Lest anyone fall short of the grace of God, due to the root of bitterness by which many are defiled” (Hebrews 12:15).

Bitterness is a poison that infects our lives and those of those around us. Sometimes the greatest captivity is the one we place ourselves in. This former Evangelist could have found her freedom in forgiveness. And in turn, intercede for her daughter in love.

While God loves us where we are, His love does not allow us to remain there. Our human compassion and compromise do not have the power of transformation. Nor does our Father bless or approve unsanctified mercy. This only allows people to remain where they are. God’s heart of mercy is for redemption and reconciliation, as displayed on the Cross at Calvary. As Christians, we have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation; it is our call to share and display the love and grace of God, which bring about healing and restoration (2 Corinthians 5:18).

In His heart and love, Roy Roden Eastgate Ministries USA