Scripture

“God blesses those who are merciful for they will be shown mercy.”

Application

Those who show mercy- forgiveness, grace, no record-keeping, they will receive God’s mercy.

Over and over, Jesus. emphasised that if we want to receive God’s forgiveness, we must also be people who forgive.

It is there in the Lord’s Prayer. — Forgive us as we forgive others. It is in the warning about judging other people. –do not judge or you yourself will be judged. It is there also in the salvation of Zacchaeus.

This is not to say that God’s grace is in any way dependent on what we do. We do not show mercy in the hope that God will be merciful to us. God is not transactional.

No, those who truly receive God’s forgiveness and have had an encounter with the Holy Spirit will themselves become people of mercy.

Genuine conversion results in conversion of relationships, so that revenge gives way to mercy.

We don’t forgive to buy God’s forgiveness. We forgive because we have been forgiven.

This raises an interesting question. What about people who do not know Jesus, but they live lives of mercy towards others?

At the risk of being branded a heretic. I think that some people like that will be in God’s kingdom. They have instinctively grasped what it means to be forgiven and they will receive God’s mercy on the day of judgement.

Prayer

Lord, please show me areas of my life where I need to show more mercy. Thank you for your forgiveness through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour. Amen.