God's Glory Church

Think of a time when you were shown mercy…

Maybe you owe someone money, but they decide to cancel your debt. You may have hurt someone you love, but you were given another chance. You may have made a huge mistake, but instead of being punished, you received forgiveness.

In the fifth of the Beatitudes, a series of promises that Jesus made about the Kingdom of God, Jesus said the following:

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.”
Matthew 5:7

Because we are all imperfect sinners who fall short of God’s glorious standards, we all deserve to die. We all deserve to be punished. We all deserve eternal separation from God.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us – we, who were dead because of our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, because you are saved by grace.”
Ephesians 2:4-5

Jesus is passionate about justice and righteousness, and at the same time passionately loves grace and mercy.
That’s why He paid the ultimate price for us—so that we could truly live. That is why He conquered death—to mercifully save our souls. That’s why He sent His Spirit—so that we too can show mercy.

To be clear, grace and mercy, while similar, are not the same thing. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve (an undeserved gift) and mercy is getting what you deserve (judgment and wrath).

And although it is easier said than done, His people are called to be merciful. Even when someone has hurt you. Yes, even when they don’t deserve your kindness. Yes, even when you don’t feel like being merciful.

Jesus showed us mercy. What now? We can recommend it to others.