Jesus Christ emphasized mercy, teaching His children to follow it, because He is merciful. In fact Mercy is part of His character toward us. Being merciful means following the steps of Our Father in Heaven and therefore be blessed beyond measure.
How can we apply this fifth Beatitude today?
“The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:8-9).
God is merciful. It’s Who He is. One of God’s defining traits in dealing with people is mercy.
If mercy is God’s character, the ones who follow His Righteous will, by seeking Him intensely, will grow to be merciful, just like their Creator.
The more a person gets to know God and the more they are in His Presence, they’ll begin yearn to be like Jesus – merciful.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7).
Blessed Are The Merciful
Both the Father and Christ are full of mercy (Ephesians 2:4-5), for God declared, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6).
Jesus also stated, “Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36). And He also called mercy one of “the weightier matters of the law” (Matthew 23:23).
It’s important for us to understand what mercy really is, if God places such an emphasis on it.
What Is Mercy?
Being merciful means showing others kindness, compassion, and forgiveness, especially when they have deeply wounded or offended us.
Even if it’s within your power to do otherwise (to revenge), you choose to give mercy.
But If we go even deeper in seeking the meaning of mercy in this fifth Beatitude, we will find something fascinating. According to William Barclay in his Daily Study Bible, the concept behind this Beatitude is to intentionally try to experience things from the perspective of the other person, or, to put it another way, to feel how they are feeling and sympathize with their sorrows.
How To Know What The Other Person Is Feeling Or What He Or She Went Through In Their Life?
It’s impossible to see or know without the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is Omniscient and Omnipresent – The One Who knows everything, the deepest parts of the person, what he or she experienced in their lives and how they feel.
He knows the person more than they know themselves.
In addition, the Holy Spirit will show the wounds and the innermost feelings of the other person to those whose eyes and ears are open to Him, and He will grant the grace to be forgiving and understanding toward them, even if they had offended us.
Jesus says without Him we can’t do ANYTHING!
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. – John 15:5
What that mean is this: Every time, we have put aside our own feelings and perceptions of the situation and people, the Holy Spirit can help us see what is underneath the surface rather than merely perceive what is visible on the top.
The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers us to have compassion for others by teaching us to understand their wounds and scars. To those who want to see and listen to God, He reveals the traumas, and the hurt of the other person, and you can see the wounded inner child who is suffering from abuse, guilt, hurt, and has a bleeding heart within.
Your heart humbles before the Lord, praying, “Forgive me, Father, for I did not know what the person has experienced, but now You are showing me simply to have a loving heart full of understanding toward the other, as You have always had toward me.” .
The merciful put their own feelings aside and think about how someone else feels and experiences things. Mercy doesn’t stop at forgiving people, but identifying with them in their sufferings and, as closely as possible, understanding their experiences helps them in their need.
It’s about seeing the heart of people, and denying myself (everything I might experience or feel in that moment) to become a servant to that person by revealing to them the Love of God in bestowing mercy where it wasn’t deserved.
Furthermore, to go the extra mile, by mirroring the sufferings and the hurt of the person, seeking the guidance of the Spirit of God to help me understand what I can do for the other person to give them the solution that’s in the heart of God.
God reveals His will through such actions.
The best example of mercy is Jesus Christ, who is our High Priest, that lived as one of us and is able to completely understand what it’s like to be wounded, rejected, to lose family members, be cold, have hunger, experience discomfort and pain, and deal with frustrating and evil people.
Due to His experiences, Jesus Christ can display mercy like no one else!
For They Shall Receive Mercy
We have established the fact that we are not able to do anything without the Holy Spirit.
We are not able to forgive without the Holy Spirit, neither are we able to be kind or compassionate without Him.
The Holy Spirit is the One who reveals to us in-depth knowledge about ourselves and others.
He is the one who sees the depths of our hearts and know us fully.
We need His help more than anything in this world!
That help is needed when we go through trails but are called to be merciful toward others.
With the Holy Spirit we are able to give Jesus to others.
Furthermore, we might come to understand that being merciful toward others, helps our heart to not be wide open to embitterment, hurt, or any evil spirit.
As Jabez prayed crying out to the God of Israel, to protect his heart from embitterment and any sorrow or pain, so that he might be more forgiving toward others, said:
..“Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. 1 Chronicles 4:10 (NIV)
He knew what pain is. The name Jabez means pain for in pain his mother gave birth to him and named him after it.
He knew that hurt, sorrow, pain and suffering might come in his life that’s why he pleaded with God to protect and help him, not allowing his heart to be embittered.
In other words, his prayer was “protect my heart from opening to the things not of You, help my heart not dwell on pain but to let it go, be forgiving, be merciful even though it might be hard.”
Jesus promises that those who are merciful shall surely receive mercy for themselves (Psalm 18:25).
Even though it is extremely difficult, if we don’t forgive, we will be the ones who are imprisoned because we have held onto resentment and bitterness for so long and haven’t asked the Holy Spirit for help in order to be able to forgive and free ourselves from the toxic anger.
When others hurt us with words it may cut us in the core of our being.
When people wrong us in any way our beings are wounded deeply.
We fail to pardon people’s sins and transgressions toward us because we do not acknowledge the fact that we are also hurt, and that we need healing too.
Therefore we need to come before God as we are, brokenhearted, hurt and even angry, and seek His mercy and healing for our wounds.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. – Isaiah 53:5
God, forgives us a huge debt – the death penalty for our sins against Him, which required the death of His Son (Psalm 51:4; 1 Corinthians 15:3). Considering what God has forgiven us of, with God’s help we will be able to forgive others as well.
Being merciful also shows our love for both God and our fellow man.
Consider what the apostle John wrote: “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21).
The Worldview On Mercy
The world without the Holy Spirit is not able to give mercy, care or be compassionate to others. It is with the Holy Spirit that these characteristic traits can be manifested through us toward others.
The people in the world seldom want to give mercy, but instead desire to dish out vengeance as they see fit.
If someone did us unrighteousness we shall not revenge it, but rather come to the court of God and seek His revenge instead. As the widow was seeking earnestly from the judge ‘Grant me justice against my adversary’ (Luke 18:1-8), so shall we.
Pay attention: the widow did not go to fight with the enemy, but turned to the judge and was seeking for his justice to protect her.
The world, on the other hand, seeks ways to revenge when needed, because the belief behind it, is that if you don’t fight back “you won’t succeed,” “you won’t be respected,” “you won’t be appreciated or entitled”, “you won’t be considered smart and strong.”
In this world, it’s believed that “eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth” is better.
So we end up living in an egoistic and selfish world full of wolves.
The “strong” take what they want from the weak—no apologies, exceptions or recompense.
People focus only on what they want and need to the exclusion of others.
The merciful are not alike. They look long and hard at the needs of others. Being merciful involves considering others, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, understanding their circumstances and feelings so that we might help them.
What Mercy Looks Like?
The key component of mercy is forgiveness. Christ taught us “without Him we are not able to do anything” (John 15:5), not even truly “Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8).
What He taught us also, is to be willing to forgive even if we’ve reached our limit – up to 77 times 7 (Matthew 18:21-22).
Being merciful and forgiving does not mean that we have to allow everyone to walk all over us repeatedly. That would not be good for them, for others they interact with, or for us.
Tip: With some people is better to forgive and than distance yourself from them, to avoid any more painful communication.
Even God, in all of His perfect love, does not allow mankind to sin forever. He steps in for our own welfare, and His righteous anger puts an end to sin and leads people to repentance.
Thankfully, “He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever” (Psalm 103:9).
Now Let’s See What Forgiveness Is And What Forgiveness Is Not?
Forgiveness is a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or a desire for revenge against someone who has wronged you. Forgiveness is often given to someone who does not ask or deserve your forgiveness.
Forgiveness means that, regardless of whether the offender deserves or desires to be forgiven, you are ready to be freed from the desire for revenge on the person who hurt you and to move on with your life.
The offender does not have to accept your forgiveness, apologize, or admit that they hurt you for forgiveness to take place.
Forgiveness is ultimately about YOU!
– YOU have to make the choice (sometimes daily) to release resentment and let go of past hurts.
– YOU have the power to decide to forgive.
– YOU are the one who can be freed from hurt, anger, resentment, and vengeance by giving the gift of forgiveness.
Tip: Sometimes the only way to help others is to pray for them by coming to the throne of God to seek grace and mercy in a time of need.
Take Action
One key component of mercy is taking action by helping others when they need it.
When someone is in need, the merciful don’t just sit on the sidelines and watch. Instead they seize the initiative and actively help them.
One of the best examples of mercy is that of the Good Samaritan described in the Bible, in Luke 10:25-37. It’s good to notice here, that the good Samaritan was able to help the wounded because he already HAD with himself – oil, wine and money.
The merciful have a natural tendency to help others.
The truth is that when we give and assist people more, our hearts get softer and more merciful.
Helping those who are less fortunate is a wonderful thing, especially in times when we have much.
Let’s Recap
Those who are merciful will surely receive the blessing and mercy when they need it.
The blessing will be upon them as well as future generations of his family.
Although we live in a world that seeks reasons to exact revenge and cause hurt, it is still possible to give forgiveness with the help of the Holy Spirit.
We are certain that we are powerless without Him!
Mercy includes forgiveness as a crucial element.
And forgiveness is not at all easy. Although challenging, it is possible with the Holy Spirit’s help.
Last but not least, helping others is also giving mercy to the ones who need it. The heart of the merciful is motivated by a desire to help others.
When we are merciful to others and seek to do what is best for them, then we are drawn closer to the next Beatitude: “Blessed are the pure in heart” (Matthew 5:8), which we will cover in the next article.
