“Mercy – compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm,” as defined by the dictionary. For the Christian, we learn of mercy through the cross of Christ. Because of God’s compassion for us, He offered us the forgiveness of our sin with the shed blood of Christ instead of punishing us for them. Jesus sets the example for us to follow in how to be merciful. We are called to show mercy to all people as if we are showing the compassion to God Himself. We see this idea in Matthew 25:40; “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”
Blessed are the Merciful
The crowd listening to Christ would understand mercy from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. In chapter 58, and the Book of Tobit, he gives us a picture of the works of mercy. They are:
1 Feed the Hungry
2 Give drink to the thirsty
3 Clothe the naked
4 Shelter the homeless
5 Comfort the imprisoned
6 Visit the sick
7 Bury the dead
Imagine how different our world might look if we all practiced mercy daily. Also, notice nothing is telling us to perform these works only for those who deserve it. Everyone needs us to be merciful. God will reward us by offering us mercy to the extent we showed mercy to others on judgment day.
Blessed are the Pure of Heart
Imagine how different our world might look if we practiced mercy daily. Click To Tweet
Acts of pure love are carried out without any ulterior motives. We seek to gain nothing when we act with a pure heart. It is scarce for anyone to operate in such a way, without expecting something in return. I think of all the times. Often; I became upset because someone I helped did not even offer me a thank you. I wanted others to recognize the mercy I gave, so the deed was no longer done with a pure heart.
The rarity of a pure heart comes with the greatest of rewards for accomplishing it; they will see God. When we review the Bible, the indication is that only a tiny number of people saw God and even in those situations, it is not clear if they did or did not. So the gift of “seeing God” gets attached to something that is difficult for any of us to accomplish.
The pure in heart are the only ones who can know what it means to be supremely happy. Click To TweetI loved the beautiful way Billy Graham described someone who is pure of heart. “The pure in heart are the only ones who can know what it means to be supremely happy. Their hearts are pure toward God and, as a result, are pure toward their fellowmen. They are happy because, in possessing Him who is All and in All, they envy no man’s worldly goods. They are happy because they envy not another man’s praise. Because they are the enemy of no man, they regard no man as their enemy. The result is peace with God and the world.” (https://billygraham.org/devotion/pure-in-heart/). Something for all of us to strive towards in our Christian walk.
Blessings,
Yvonne – #blogger, #speaker, and #author
Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
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Walk humbly and show mercy to everyone. We may not know the life story of another person. We do know we can share His love with everyone. 🙂
Yes we can share love with everyone. Thanks
Indeed Yvonne, More mercy would change the world.
Thanks Beth and amen
What a beautiful teaching, Yvonne. How merciful is our Savior toward us! May we gain a heart of mercy toward others. Billy Graham’s quote at the end is so powerful. Wow.
Thanks Melissa. If only we would make the effort to live a life of mercy. God bless
Mercy is beautiful. I love the Book of Isaiah! The world would be a much better place if we could all focus on kindness and mercy.
I agree. The book of Isaiah was my father’s favorite. I am learning lots from reading it.
Wow, I absolutely love this line: “Acts of pure love are carried out without any ulterior motives.” What a powerful thought. And there are so many layers of selfishness for us to dig through before we can truly say, “that, for me, was an act of pure love.” Thank God for the continuing process of sanctification. Great post.
Thank you Stephanie. It is so hard for most of us not to have an ulterior motive. We want people to like us or appreciate us. I am trying but it is not easy.
I absolutely love this post! Our way must be the way of mercy and love. I especially like the how you pointed out that it doesn’t matter if they “deserve” mercy. I know I don’t.. but Jesus gives me it anyway.
I don’t deserve it either but I am so thankful for it. God bless Candice
“Imagine how different our world might look if we all practiced mercy daily.” Oh my, that is convicting! This series is so wonderful – I love looking more in-depth at each of these characteristics! Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us!
Thanks Emily. I learn so much when I research too. God bless
I love the Billy Graham quote. The world calls to us to get more and more. God calls us to peace. God bless!
Thank you Nancy and God bless you too
Awesome post, Yvonne. Loving this journey with you. Love the tweets and shared them both. 🙂 May the Lord give us even the tiniest bit of His mercy for others…even that would change the world. So thankful that when others don’t extend mercy to us, God’s mercy never ceases and is without measure. And, yes, I desire that pure heart state to be supremely happy.
I pray for a heart of mercy for all of us so we can change the world by our example. Those around us desperately need it. Thanks Karen
The Book of Tobit? You must be Catholic. That’s not a book in my Bible, but I looked it up and found it interesting. It’s nice to know that, even with different denominations, we all still believe in Jesus and the power of His mercy. It is powerful, indeed!
Thanks Lisa. I am actually not Catholic but found the information through research and thought it was useful.
I want to be better at practicing mercy!
Amen, me too.
I love the list of things we can do to show mercy and compassion to others. Very tangible. I like measures. I can’t say I’m always like this, but your post is challenging and helpful to follow. Thank you, Yvonne. 🙂
Thanks Marcie. I am glad the list was helpful.
Mercy is something many in the Church have in abundance and others have lost completely. Some seem to feel that they are not their brother’s keeper. This message can change the world because it is part of the Gospel message. It’s the way to shine light in the darkness. God bless!
I agree with you Nancy. Thanks and God bless