Those of you that know me will know that several of my favorite bible verses are found in the Gospel of Matthew. I want to talk about one of those verses today.
Matthew 5:7 say “blessed are the merciful for they will obtain mercy”.
I really like those kind of verses. The ones that give an instruction and then offer a promise of some kind. I know for instance that I’d like to have a lot mercy in my life. I mess up pretty regularly and when you do it’s nice when the people affected are merciful to you. I like that a lot. Being merciful feels good (at least it does to me) and it comes with the great benefit of getting it back.
I was thinking about that today and I thought what a beautiful thing this really is. Isn’t being merciful a great witness for a Christian to have? What a great world we would live in if we were all as merciful as our Heavenly Father. In a way mercy is the flap of the butterfly’s wing that caused the storm. Your mercy, your kindness, your forgiveness could be the cause of a storm of the same.
One of the fastest ways to change a difficult situation is to show mercy or kindness or forgiveness. I know that many times our impulse is to lash out when we’ve been hurt or wronged in some way. Sometimes we are just looking for an offense to take. It can feel pretty good to lash out in the moment. That impulse though will usually lead to more difficulty rather than some good resolution.
Your small action, your little kindness though can have a massive positive impact. I mean I know that love is mean, love is judgmental, love always gets it way, insists that it is alway right, love takes revenge, love walks away. That’s why it’s so easy to love your neighbor right? No that’s not right but to often that’s how we “love” each other. Mercy stands our impulses on their heads. Even without the promise of Matthew 5:7 mercy is really it’s own reward.
Mercy is like a muscle, a spiritual muscle. The more you work it out the stronger it becomes. The more you exercise it the stronger all of your spiritual muscles grow. Paul doesn’t list mercy as a Fruit of the Spirit but really can you have any fruit without it?
So spread mercy and see love , joy, and peace flourish all around you. And who doesn’t want that?
I pray that you find mercy abundantly in your life. That you supply it endlessly and receive it ceaselessly. I pray that the roots of mercy anchor your life in the goodness of God and supply abundantly all the spiritual richness He has for you.
prayersandpowerchords 