Matthew 5:7 (NIV): Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Those who want to receive mercy from God must continually extend mercy to others, just as those who want to receive His forgiveness must continually extend forgiveness to others. This extension of mercy to others begins with a solid recognition that we require mercy from God ourselves – that unless He extends His mercy, we are forever doomed. When we recognize our own dependence on God’s mercy, it become utter nonsense to withhold mercy from someone else. But if someone does withhold mercy from another, it betrays a self-centered, unforgiving heart that far from God!
Thus showing mercy to others does not actually originate from a soft heart, as much as from a sense of our own forgiven indebtedness. He who has been forgiven much loves not just the forgiver, but also others who are in his debt. Likewise, he who has been shown much mercy shows love not just to God, the merciful One, but also to others who are in as much need of mercy as they were.
If a person notes a troubling lack of mercy in their own heart, the first place to look is at their own sense of having received mercy. Are they grateful to God, or do they see themselves as somehow more worthy or more deserving of mercy that some others. Or do they somehow see their offenses against God as less serious than the offenses of others against them. In either case, their worldview and their view of their own inherent goodness are seriously warped and twisted.
The Bible speaks the absolute truth when it says, “There is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 14:3b) Every single person on earth who has come to the age of accountability has chosen to sin more than once and, as such, is deserving of eternal separation from our holy God. The only reason that we are not immediately condemned forever is because of God’s great mercy toward us. There are NO grounds for anyone to feel that they are somehow superior to others, because they were just as lost, just as hopeless, just as condemned as anyone else before God showed them His mercy. There are no grounds for anyone to withhold mercy from another, because each of us stands in just as much need of God’s continuing mercy and saving grace as anyone else. But only those who continually remember the depths from which God saved us, the foulness from which He Holy Spirit rescued us, will truly show mercy to others, and continue to receive mercy from God.
Father, I DO remember the depths of sin in which I was buried when You saved me. I DO remember the bitterness of rebellion that was in my soul when You forgave me. And for that reason, I am Your loving servant forever. Help me to pass along that same love, mercy, and forgiveness to others. Amen.
Jesus’ prayer was, “Father, forgive them;
They know not what they do.”
A prayer born in death, writhing with pain.
A prayer risking faith, facing the sorrow.
A prayer living in hope, seeing the future.
My prayer was, “God, how can I forgive them;
They know what they did.”
A prayer saying, “It still hurts.”
A prayer wanting vengeance.
A prayer seeking direction.
My prayer became, “God, help me forgive them;
They know what they did.
A prayer saying, “They were wrong.”
A prayer wanting reconciliation.
A prayer seeking courage.
My prayer became, “God, forgive them;
They know what they did.”
A prayer that wrestled with injustice.
A prayer that acknowledged weakness.
A prayer that found hope in God’s love.
My prayer remains, “God, forgive them;
They know what they did.”
Because forgiving recreates life from death.
Because forgiving cleanses the healing wound.
Because forgiving builds the bridge of freedom.
Jared P. Pingleton
The Role and Function of Forgiveness