Dear Believer: Mercy
Today, I want to talk about mercy. Mercy is such an enduring character trait of God that has reached us and pulled us out of various situations. We are all so in need of mercy that Gods mercies are renewed for us every morning Lamentation 3:22–23. Talk about a daily dose of rescue.
One of the first experiences of mercy for the believer is in the forgiveness of our sins as we accept the Lordship of Jesus and surrender our lives to Him. Next, we experience mercy as the Holy Spirit works in us to let go of our ungodly behaviours, characters, expression etc. and walk us into the way of our new life in Christ. As we navigate being children of God, we sometimes fall short of Gods expectation of us and mercy is there to clean us up and set us back on track.
Next, we experience Gods mercy when He gives us instructions and we do not do them at all or when we are supposed to. Sometimes it comes to us when we ought to show the fruit of the spirit to our fellow humans and we fall short, for whatever reasons we give. So we have mercy to encourage us and push us to do the things that believers are supposed to do to show God as His true ambassadors. Mercy is a cover. Providing a cover for things you have done that you should not have done also providing a cover for things you have not done that you should have done. And by cover I do not mean hiding you or excusing your wrongs/flaws but showing you forgiveness and helping you get back on track. Essentially having mercy on you *wink*
There is still one more part of mercy for the believer.
Because we are made in Gods image and have experienced the mercy of God in countless cases, we ought also to show mercy to others. It is required of a believer to also be merciful.
As believers, we do not always just recieve. We are essentially givers because God uses our generosity as a tool to be a blessing to the world. “That they may see you good works and glorify your father in heaven” Matthew 5:16
You see just the way God shows us mercy everyday, we ought to do same. The disciples ask Jesus “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? Up to seven times?” Matthew 18:21 and Jesus gave a ridiculous number implying that it is not something that should have an end date. Jesus also gave a parable about a lender who forgave his servant a huge (hooge) debt but the servant couldn’t forgive a smaller debt Luke 7:40–50. Here he was showing us exactly what it looked like when we do not show mercy even after being shown so much mercy.
As we transition into Christ-Likeness, we are not just to emulate Him but to work towards becoming like Him. We always get opportunities each day to show mercy in grand things and small things. One of the blessed things we have in our faith is that we cannot be proud because we have been forgiven so much and we cannot think of ourselves as small because we will find ourselves in the position to offer forgiveness as well.
If there is anyone that needs your mercy. I know it maybe hard and difficult because of the uniqueness of the situation, Just remember that God once (and over again) forgave you and has graced you to do the same.
Much love,
Eva.
