Be Merciful

‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven’ Luke 6:37 [NIV].

 Be merciful! God will not ask you to give to others what He has not first given you. If you have obtained mercy, you must also give mercy. To who much is given, much is expected. Jesus says that loving Him translates to obeying His commands. God’s command to you and I today is be merciful. Mercy is not getting what you deserve; being merciful is not giving people what they deserve. For all the wrong that we have done in the past, with Jesus in the equation we all have been given a second chance that we did not deserve. And a future hope that we did not merit [grace]. Let your immediate reaction to hurt from your fellow man be mercy. Forgiveness is being merciful. One way of being like God, obeying His command and being merciful all in one is forgiving. God’s word for you and I today is deal with everyone who has hurt you in the past and those who will hurt you the same way you want God to deal with you. Do you want God to be merciful to you, then you must also be merciful. Jesus even puts this heavenly command into the Lord’s Prayer ‘forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors’ [Matt.6:12]; in other words, be merciful unto me even as I have been merciful to others. You have the assurance that when you obey this command, ‘your heavenly Father will also forgive you’ [matt.6:14]. ‘Blessed are the merciful for they will obtain mercy’. When people ask for your forgiveness, give it to them. God says I am merciful and gracious, full of loving kindness and abounding in love. God wants you to take these attributes of Him and share them with the people around you. Even as God is remembered for mercy, people must also remember you for mercy. Let men see how merciful you are and seek the God which you represent.

Prayer: Spirit of God I ask that You deepen my appreciation of the Father’s mercy so that it will become my first nature even as I am built up in the image of Christ Jesus.