"Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy."
(Matthew 5:7)
What do the merciful receive?
Jesus says that the merciful are makarios; they are the truly blessed, joyful, content, and happy, in the best sense of the word. The merciful are blessed! And that is so true. The truly blessed life is one where you are vertically right with God, in Christ. You are the recipient of His mercy for your confessed sins. The blessed person is also horizontally right with others. They lovingly give mercy, care for those who are hurting, and as a result, live life in the sweet spot.
But note that Jesus also says that those who are merciful receive mercy. On the purest level, this means that since we have received God's Son in Jesus Christ, we have received mercy, the total forgiveness of our sins, and now we are able to give mercy.
Jesus is not teaching salvation by works (that somehow if you muster it within you to forgive others, then God will be obligated to forgive you). That is backwards. We are saved by God's mercy, and a sure sign is that we forgive and extend mercy to others.
The story that Jesus told in the Parable of the Unjust Servant beautifully illustrates the whole tenor of the subject of mercy and forgiveness. It is recorded in Matthew 18:21-35, and I will share with you a condensed version of it here. Jesus told the story of a man who owed millions of dollars. He did not have the money and begged for mercy. The creditor forgave the man the whole amount, yet that same man who had just been forgiven his enormous debt finds a man that owes him a few thousand dollars, treats him harshly, and forces him into prison until he pays this small loan. The original creditor hears of the story and rebukes the man who had received much but refused to give a little mercy and forgiveness to one who owed so little by comparison.
Mercy is uniquely, inextricably related to forgiveness. Also, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us the oft-quoted Lord's Prayer, and immediately afterward in Matthew 6:14-15, He says, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
You have heard the old adage, "what goes around comes around." I believe there is much truth in this. The person who bestows mercy, gives help, and has this true Christ-like nature of putting others before self, this individual will be blessed. God has a way of seeing in secret and rewarding openly. I believe you reap what you sow and reap more than you sow. If you sow seeds of mercy, you receive a merciful bounty; if you sow good deeds, good comes back to you. The merciful obtain mercy. The opposite is also true; the unmerciful do not obtain mercy.
Let us be people of mercy today. Let us be slow to anger but quick to forgive, extend kindness and mercy, and help in any way we can.
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