Blessed! Part 5
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
Matthew 5:7
We are clipping right along in this journey through the Beatitudes. Let’s start this one at the end. ”For they will be shown mercy.”
Warren Weirsbe says, “But having received His mercy, we then share His mercy with others. We seek to keep our hearts pure that we might see God in our lives today. We become peacemakers in a troubled world and channels for God’s mercy, purity and peace.”
“He has showed you, O man, what is good and what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
We have had mercy lavishly poured out to us. So, having received such a beautiful gift, how can we not extend mercy to others? Everything begins and ends with God. We know what mercy looks like because of God’s mercy towards us.
“Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -
it is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4&5
So, that’s where we start - with God’s mercy. One commentator wrote: “What Jesus is saying, as God pours out His rich mercies on us, we respond by showing mercy to others, which causes us to receive even more mercy from God.”
Why did Jesus add mercy to our “Code of Conduct”? Mercy, by it’s definition, is acting consistently with the revelation of God’s covenant; It is compassion actively moving from feeling to action.
Phil Newton shares, “Scribes and Pharisees tended toward being judgmental and merciless because of their demand for rigorous observance of the law. Scribes and Pharisees did not receive God’s mercy because they they had become so self-satisfied with their own religious attainments that they did not sense their dangerous condition of total bankruptcy and their desperate need for God’s mercy.”
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
You give a tenth of your spices - mint, dill and cummin.
But you have neglected the more important matters of the law -
justice, mercy and faithfulness.
You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.” Matthew 23:23
Oh, friend! May we never become that conceited in all the good things we do for God that we forget our need for His mercy, grace and forgiveness in our lives.
Jesus needed to teach the revolutionary concept of mercy in a time when sympathy was killed by the thought that suffering was a penalty of sin, which fostered a pitiless type of righteousness. What about today? What about us and how we dispense mercy?
We are to reflect His mercy. We are to imitate God by showing mercy.
“As you hope for mercy, show mercy.”
~ Spurgeon
There is nothing like acknowledging our need to be forgiven - receiving God’s mercy - to remind us to be ready to forgive - giving God’s mercy. It challenges us to go against our human nature to hold a grudge or wish a piano would fall on their car.
“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail,
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22&23
What a beautiful cycle we get to be a part of! We receive God’s mercy -> We give God’s mercy -> We receive God’s mercy.
Everything begins and ends with God. We could not be merciful or kind or compassionate without first having God show us what that looks like.
If we are having a hard time with mercy, kindness or compassion - we should ask ourselves if we have truly accepted His love, kindness, mercy, grace or compassion.
This week let’s be merci-full not merci-less.
Have the most amazing day!
All My Love ~
Jodi xo
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