Joshua said to the two men who had scouted the land, “Go to the prostitute’s house and bring the woman out of there, and all who are with her, just as you promised her.”(Joshua 6:22)

“The prostitute.” Not the former, reformed, or repentant prostitute. Just “the prostitute.” Insert any other label that you want. The definition is likely the same: behaving outside of God’s will…but not exempt from His deliverance.

We must remember this as we share God with others we identify as being outside His will. They are worthy of deliverance. And they don’t have to jump through our hoops of behavior and change in order to receive His mercy. He knows their path better than we do. If He’s willing to meet them right where they are and bring them to a new place, even if they don’t change every way that needs to change, can’t we extend the grace and mercy and patience? After all, He’s delivering us despite our obstinance, too, including our inflexible approach to others.