Romans 1:18

While God's mercy is certainly amazingly abundant, it seems to be overemphasized in today's world in comparison to His righteousness and justice. I've heard people argue against the Old Testament especially, because they don't like to read of the complete destruction of one gentile city or another. I think it's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture: as Paul points out, the righteousness of God is revealed as we read Scripture, including accounts of God's punishment. If the wicked are left unpunished, why should we choose to obey? If the punishment is infrequent or inconsistent, why should our obedience also be infrequent or inconsistent? God is holy; He is righteous. By punishing the unrighteous people He encourages us to become righteous.