Jeremiah 8:4

Have the strength to rise up from the earth. Remember the good Shepherd and how he will pursue and deliver you. And if there are but "two legs or the tip of an ear," leap back from him who has wounded you. Remember the compassion of God, how he heals with olive oil and wine. Do not despair of salvation. Recall the memory of what has been written: how he who falls rises again, and he who is turned away turns again. He who has been smitten is healed, and he who is caught by wild beasts escapes. He who confesses is not rejected. The Lord does not wish the death of the sinner but that he return and live. Do not have contempt for yourself, like one who has fallen into the depths of sin.

And pray ye without ceasing in behalf of other men; for there is hope of the repentance, that they may attain to God. For "cannot he that falls arise again, and he that goes astray return?" Permit them, then, to be instructed by you. Be ye therefore the ministers of God, and the mouth of Christ. For thus saith the Lord, "If ye take forth the precious from the vile, ye shall be as my mouth." Be ye humble in response to their wrath; oppose to their blasphemies your earnest prayers; while they go astray, stand ye stedfast in the faith. Conquer ye their harsh temper by gentleness, their passion by meekness. For "blessed are the meek"; and Moses was meek above all men; and David was exceeding meek.

It is worth our while observing, in what way his sin was forgiven, and how he put away his fault. The event may prove of no slight benefit to us. He did not then defer his repentance. Nor was he careless about it, for as rapid as was his decent into sin, so quick were his tears because of it. Nor did he merely weep, but he wept bitterly. As one who had fallen, so bravely did he spring up again. He knew that the merciful God somewhere says by one of the prophets, "Shall not he that falls arise? And he that backslides, shall he not return?" In returning, therefore, he did not miss the mark, for he continued to be what he had been before, a true disciple.

God is indeed good to everyone, but he shows his patient endurance especially to those who sin. If you want to hear a paradoxical statement—paradoxical because it is not customary but true for the great piety it reveals—listen. God always seems to be severe to the righteous. But he seems good to sinners and quick to clemency. He restores the one who sinned and fell, and he tells him, "Shall not he who falls get up? Or the one who turns away, shall he not turn back again?" And "Why did the stupid daughter of Judah turn away with a shameless revolting?" And again, "Return to me, and I will return to you."

The very thing I said in the beginning, I say now, that both of these cause us to betray our salvation: placing our courage in our goodness and losing our hope to wickedness. This is why Paul, to protect those who remain in goodness, said, "Let any one who thinks that he stand take heed in fear that he fall." And again: "I am afraid that, after preaching to others, I myself should be disapproved." In order to lift up those who are found fallen in wickedness and to excite them to greater readiness, he bore testimony to the Corinthians. He wrote to them, "I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned before and have not repented." In this way, he revealed that the sinners do not deserve equal pity with the unrepentant. And the prophet said to them, "Shall not he that falls arise, or he that turns away, shall he not turn back again?" Hence, as long as the "today" is said let us not despair but have good hope in the Master. Let us recognize the vast sea of his philanthropy.