Besides blessing us when we are in a moment of being poor in spirit, a moment of mourning, a moment of meekness, and a moment of hunger and thirst for righteousness, God also blesses us when we are being merciful.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
Matthew 5:7 (ESV)
God’s heart towards us is merciful and since we’re created in His image (Genesis 1:27), and we receive our righteousness through our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior (Ephesians 2:8-10), He expects us to display mercy to others. In fact, He blesses us for it. God delights in blessing that which we have been given which means when we sow back what God has given us, we allow for His blessing to pour over our lives.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
James 1:22-25 (ESV)
Biblical mercy involves forgiveness. It also involves withholding punishment for that which a punishment is rightfully deserved. In my post, Chapter 7: Mercy, I wrote about God’s greatest act of mercy to humanity – giving up His one and only Son to bear the punishment of the sins of the world that humanity itself deserves to be punished for. Jesus bore our sins on the cross and His entire life on earth served as an example on how we should live ours. The One who should have been the most offended, the most betrayed, the most discouraged, or even bitter, forgave us instead.
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Luke 23:34 (ESV)
In His darkest moment on earth, when He was about to bear the sins of the world on the cross, Jesus prayed that we would receive forgiveness and not be punished for that which we deserve. Instead of praying for Himself, for His vengeance or rightful judgment against us, He prayed for others. Jesus showed us mercy and that is why He was blessed by the Father.
“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:6-11 (NIV)
When others wrong us or hurt us, can we have the heart of Jesus? Can we have a forgiving heart towards the people who have offended us and pray against our need to want to see them hurt as they’ve hurt us? Can we forgive them and release them of the ‘punishment’ we feel they rightfully deserve? These are tough questions that I encounter many times as a Christian. At moments, my answer to these questions is a no. I sometimes don’t have the will nor do I have the strength to forgive those who have hurt me. But, God always reminds me that He exemplified how we should live by the way He lived in this world. The merciful heart He wants us to have won’t come by our own might or will. It comes through His grace and mercy. God softens our hearts and helps us release our unforgiveness through the empowerment of His Holy Spirit, our Helper.
“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
John 14:25-26 (ESV)
God doesn’t expect us to do this on our own, He equips us. He gives us the ability to even have a merciful heart when we surrender our hearts to Him. This may be liberating for you as it is for me, because my heart – in my own might – cannot be merciful to others in all circumstances. Some of the offenses in my life have been so great, I don’t want to forgive nor do I want to release the desire I have to see them ‘punished’ for it. The greater the offense, the less merciful my heart is. But God, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit are actively helping shape my heart to be merciful. God has slowly chipped away the wall of unforgiveness that I feel towards some of these offenses. He’s not forcing me to accept them as okay, nor is He forcing me to continue to engage in these relationships, but He is nudging me to walk in His freedom.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Galatians 5:1 (ESV)
God wants to release me from the innate and self-destructive pain and bitterness that can fester in my heart when I’m not merciful. I’ve come to realize on my walk that I’m blessed when I’m merciful towards others, because it liberates and blesses me. It allows me to live a life of peace (John 14:27) and a life of abundance (John 10:10). Holding onto the offenses in our lives and not having a merciful heart is like staying nailed to our individual crosses and choosing not to rise above them.
God has shown me time and time again that He sees. He’s my El-Roi (Genesis 16:13) and He’s yours too. He sees us in our pain and He knows us in our pain. Therefore, He also personally understands the strength and humility it takes to be merciful towards those who have wronged us. He’s not saying what others do to hurt us is okay, just like He wasn’t saying on the cross that our sins were okay. God has a way of avenging His people as I wrote about in Chapter 16: God Vindicates. But, His ways are above ours and so are His thoughts (Isaiah 55). Though God protects me and vindicates me, God doesn’t fight for my side or their side. God fights for righteousness. My responsibility as His daughter is not to harbor on when or how or why. The battle is His and not mine. I’m called to love others and to be a doer of His word and not just a hearer. I’m called to pick up my cross daily and follow Him.
Being merciful requires a daily surrender, which is why when Jesus told us how to pray in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), He called on us to ask for forgiveness daily as we forgive others. I have also hurt others in my life and in those moments, I’ve hoped that they would forgive me. I’ve hoped that their hearts would be merciful towards me. If God has forgiven me for my sins, if Jesus has paid the full price for my sins, who am I to hold others to theirs?
Sincerely,
Anne
A great biblical book to study when it comes to having a merciful heart towards others is David’s story in 1 and 2 Samuel. King David mourned the death of King Saul despite the wrong King Saul had caused him over the course of his life. Instead of praying that King Saul would receive the ‘punishment’ he deserved for treating David the evil way in which he did, David mourned Saul’s death and honored him (2 Samuel 1).
Another great study on mercy and forgiveness is Joseph’s story in the book of Genesis – specifically in Genesis 42-50 when Joseph and his family are reunited.
Additional scripture to meditate on:
“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:13-14 (ESV)
“The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge!”
Psalm 50:6 (ESV)
“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”
Romans 8:9-11 (NIV)
“For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.”
Isaiah 33:22 (NIV)
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Galatians 6:7-9 (NIV)
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
Colossians 3:12-13 (ESV)
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