James‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬, ‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬ “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Men chase a lot of rules—rules for success, rules for fitness, rules for finances, rules for winning at life. Every religion offers its own list. Every god demands something from humanity.

But the One True God gives a command so clear, so simple, and so demanding that no man can fake his way through it:

Love God by loving people.

This is the royal law—the King’s command.
This is the law that gives freedom—the only path to real life.

And it is the God-given measure of genuine Christian manhood.

James doesn’t allow us to separate our vertical devotion to God from our horizontal behavior toward people. You can pray, read, serve, give, and know doctrine—but if you refuse to love people, you’re not obeying God.

The royal law slices through all the religious fluff the world invents to make men feel righteous while still living selfish, harsh, or indifferent lives.

God says, “Show Me your love for Me—by the way you love those made in My image.”

That’s Christianity in its purest form.

Let’s be honest—
Loving people is brutally difficult.
People offend us. Disappoint us. Betray us. Waste our time. Test our patience.

But God doesn’t ask if they deserve love.
He doesn’t ask if they earned mercy.

Because we didn’t deserve mercy either.

Yet Jesus—the sinless God-Man—stepped into human skin, bore our punishment, and forgave our rebellion. He showed mercy to the completely undeserving. Every Christian man is a recipient of scandalous grace.

So James says plainly:
A man who refuses to show mercy has forgotten the mercy God showed him.

And on judgment day, the unmerciful will face a justice they demanded for others.

But for the man who remembers the cross…
For the man who gives the mercy he was given…

“Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

This law—love God, love neighbor—is not a burden but a liberation.

It frees us from:

• Petty religion

• Self-righteous scorekeeping

• Pride disguised as piety

• Anger disguised as justice

• Power disguised as masculinity

And it frees us to become the men God intended—strong, humble, sacrificial, courageous, merciful.

This is the freedom Jesus died to give us.

Run Today’s Play: Identify the person you least want to show mercy to—
and do something today that demonstrates God’s mercy toward them.

A call.
A text.
A forgiveness.
A blessing.
A soft answer.
A sacrificial act.
A choice not to retaliate.

Not because they deserve it…
but because God loved you when you didn’t.

Let the royal law rule your life today.
Let mercy triumph in you.
And let your love for people reveal your true love for God.