Merciful You! || Behind the Beatitudes || Week 5

Welcome back to Part 5 of “Behind the Beatitudes.” This series takes a deeper look at what Jesus taught about during his Sermon on the Mount. This week’s beatitude is Matthew 5:7 and says this.

Matthew 5:7 – Great blessings belong to those who show mercy to others. Mercy will be given to them.

This tells me that if I show the same mercy God has shown me to others, I will receive both a blessing and mercy myself. Seems simple. There are three other scriptures that I want to dive into today that talk about this type of mercy. Let’s dive into it. 

Know What You’re Talking About

Proverbs 18:17 – The first person to speak always seems right until someone comes and asks the right questions. 

This verse mentions that cross-examination avoids hasty judgment. This boils down to the fact that you want to make sure one isn’t misspeaking or telling false information about the subject in question. Without diving deeper into it yourself or asking the right questions during the conversation, you can easily assume that the person talking is correct. More detail pans back to verse 13, which mentions that he will sound foolish if one answers a question before genuinely listening. 

You obviously want to make sure you have concrete evidence and knowledge about a subject before you go spouting it. At the bare minimum, be transparent that you don’t know enough. This is either your opinion or just speculation. You also need to be sure that you are open to someone disagreeing with you. Sticking with what you believe to be true even though there’s concrete evidence that proves otherwise is something you can be merciful with. The person correcting you isn’t doing it to attack you. They are doing it, so you don’t continue to spread misinformation. We can all be aware of this topic because of how repetitive it has come out during the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s mercy in this whole situation. 

There’s mercy to yourself for believing what you thought to be true AND wanting to change your beliefs. There’s mercy to your audience for misspeaking and the hope that they will continue to place their trust and value in you. Jesus gives you this mercy when you are ready to go forward and make the change. Mercy is always something we have to possess when we speak and listen because misinterpretation can and does happen frequently. 

Merciful Care

2 Timothy 1:16 – I pray that the Lord will show mercy to the family of Onesiphorus. Many times Onesiphorus encouraged me. He was not ashamed that I was in prison.

How many times have you heard a sermon about Onesiphorus? I haven’t either. Here’s a little background info on who he was. This is one of Paul’s loyal coworkers that didn’t desert him. He wasn’t ashamed that Paul was imprisoned, and he even came to check in on him and minister to whatever Paul needed. He seems to be a great friend to Paul, which makes sense why Paul hopes God shows mercy to him and his family. 

When someone treats you right, you obviously want them to continue to be treated well themselves, right? And vice versa, right? We hope good people get good treatment and bad people get bad treatment. I know that’s not all of us reading or listening to this, but tell me I’m truly wrong. The material culture almost encourages seeking revenge and toxicity more than anything else, I feel. There’s a key phrase in this scripture that I think we need to remember. “…the Lord will show mercy…” God is the Almighty Judge and therefore has the actual power to render mercy on different people. We are called to share the same mercy with our fellow brothers and sisters, but God has the ultimate resolution at the end of the day. Bottom line: grant all people the same mercy that God has granted you. 

Our God is a Merciful God

Hebrews 6:10 – God is fair, and he will remember all the work you have done. He will remember that you showed your love to him by helping his people and that you continue to help them. 

This verse shows me that God doesn’t choose favorites. He remembers our work and love for him that we show and glorify on earth to each one of his children. It reminds me that God doesn’t put us on a waiting list when we pray and then decides our priority. God listens to us immediately when we go to him and answers us in whatever way we need our prayer answered. God is fair. God doesn’t prioritize people. God doesn’t help specific demographics over others. God is fair and just and treats all people, those who believe and don’t believe, with care, love, mercy, and forgiveness. 

It’s just that simple y’all. I’ll be back with Part 6 of this series soon. Until then, stay blessed!