Matthew 5:7 tells us, “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” In this world today, it seems as though there is little room for mercy. People are constantly judging others and their situations or have little tolerance for anyone who has failed at achieving others’ expectations or standards for living. As we discussed yesterday, it is impossible to meet someone else’s expectations if it is based on their own experiences or feelings. According to merriam-webster.com, the word mercy means: “compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one’s power.” This is exactly what God did when he sent his son to die on the cross for our sins. He had compassion on us (the offenders), and sent his son to die a terrible death on a cross to take the place of us.
God wants us to follow his example of mercy in our dealings with others. Many of us have someone who has done wrong against us. We tend to hold a grudge against them and treat them the opposite of how God treated us, with no mercy and compassion. When we live in this way, we show how ungrateful we are for His mercy and love poured out in our own lives. We should long to show others mercy because of the mercy that was given to us. This part of the Beatitudes says that those who show mercy will also be given mercy. Give mercy to others because God did that for you and he will continue to show you mercy when you wrong him.