Research has indicated that there are stages in moral development. In one stage, called conventional morality, the individual tries as best they can to follow the rules, to be a “good boy or girl.” The Pharisee in the parable told by Jesus exhibits this kind of morality boasting ‘I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ For the prophet Hosea that is not enough. It is mercy that I desire, not sacrifice. At a higher moral plane one does not worry so much on what one is giving up as in who one is giving for. The focus is not on me and what I am doing as it is seeing the bigger picture of God’s presence in the world, particularly in those who are hurting.
