Have you ever realized you needed something but didn’t realize you needed it until…well…you really needed it? You are probably reading that again trying to figure out what in the world kind of double talk is that or simply what am I trying to say.
it is not uncommon to not know you need something until a situation arises and then you see that “Oh man, I’m missing something.” It could be a certain kind of tool, for example. Or this has happened to many: you or someone is cooking and they go to reach for an ingredient and its not there-a spice, a flavoring, or some essential ingredient. I mean…mac & cheese is definitely not the same made with water because you had no milk or it was sour.
Okay…so here’s what I think (I know you are waiting with baited breath): mercy is like that. We talk about grace a lot and when it comes to salvation we know we need it. But mercy is a bit different. Someone has defined it this way: grace is getting what we don’t deserve; mercy is not getting what we do deserve.
But let’s look at mercy differently for a moment…outside of salvation. We talk about showing mercy (Mt. 5: 7) or being shown mercy. But even as we know we need it, we often fail to show it. We celebrate God’s mercy but scream at our children when they mess up. We are grateful for God’s mercy in our relationship but harbor anger, bitterness, even a lack of forgiveness for others.
See what I mean? We need mercy but often fail to show it so we lose sight of needing it. I wish I could express it better. Maybe it comes down to this: maybe to the degree I have been shown mercy is the degree to which I ought to show it. Only when I realize I need God’s mercy will I show it to others.
“Father, thank you for your mercy. Help me to show it to others.”
Amen, Bill! May each of us show more mercy to those around us in a way that reflects how much mercy we know we have been shown by the Lord.
Blessings!
That’s the whole point in a nutshell Martha.
It is so easy to fall into the trap of wanting “justice” or even revenge. Sometimes we hold on to things much longer than we should. Mercy goes side by side with Forgiveness. I think we often confuse forgiveness with mercy. I think forgiveness is more about letting go of the anger and hurt internally while mercy is more about removing some or all of the consequence with those who may have wronged us.
Is that not what Christ did for us. He forgave us (dropped the internal anger) and showed mercy to us by not requiring us to take the punishment.
Christ went one step further and took the punishment himself.
I think that may be the question to ask. Do I have it in me to take on the consequence of someone else’s action.
Perhaps that is monetarily, perhaps that is taking ownership of a conversation that may have went side ways. Perhaps that means doing a little extra work to catch up.
Ok, I have typed too much already, good thoughts this morning Bill.
I will agree with you Ryan that we confuse mercy and forgiveness. They aren’t the same. One can show mercy but not necessarily forgive. Showing mercy is certainly more though than being nice to someone.