The Merciful (2)
3) Other kinds of mercy
There are also many other kinds of mercy. For example, there is having mercy on those who are poor or in need. Suppose if a brother is suffering from poverty, what will you do? If you just say with your lips, “What a pity!” you do not have mercy in God’s sight. The kind of mercy recognized by God is to actually give what you have to your brother who is in need.
Some say they want to help but they do not have anything to give. But let me ask you a question. If your own children are starving, will you just look at them saying, “I cannot help it for I am also poor?” Even if you wouldn’t have anything to eat tomorrow, you would give your children what you have right now. You should do the same for your brothers.
When we show our mercy in this way, God will show His mercy to us too. If we act in this way, He must be so pleased! He will record everything in heaven and all your good acts will be your honor later when you go to heaven.
But what you should be careful about is that you should not help those who are suffering as a punishment of God caused by their sin.
In the book of Jonah, we can see that if you help a person who is suffering due to his intentional disobedience to God’s Word, you will also suffer. God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh, but he didn’t want to obey, so he took a ship that was going to the opposite direction. So, God sent a big storm and the people onboard came to know that it was because Jonah disobeyed God’s word. If they threw Jonah out to the sea, the storm would calm down. They threw everything overboard and finally they had to throw Jonah out into the sea. They tried to save Jonah by throwing away all luggages onboard. That caused great loss to them, but the storm only got worse.
Similarly, if you help those who are suffering due to God’s punishment, you will have a hardship after helping that person, so you should hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Next, we should show our mercy to those who are sick, who are in lowly places, failed in this world, and who are not saved. The worldly people welcome those who have succeeded but turn their backs to those who have failed.
People may help them a couple of times, but if they keep on failing, people turn their faces and mistreat them. But if a brother in faith fails and gets discouraged, we should never look down on him. We should welcome him warmly and receive him with love.
We should have mercy on those who are sick and pray for them. We should have mercy on unbelievers and preach the gospel to them even if they persecute and curse at us. They persecute because they do not know the truth. If we do not have mercy and evangelize them, they will fall into hell.
Also, we should have mercy on not only those who are around us but also all the souls in the whole world and pray for them.
- God will show His mercy to you
Those who are merciful will be shown mercy. This means they will receive God’s mercy.
Because King Hezekiah did good works, when God told him that he would die, he was able to have his life extended for 15 years when he repented and prayed to God. We, who believe in Jesus Christ, have already received great mercy from God. If God had not had mercy on us and forgiven us, we would have fallen into hell and suffered forever.
But we were forgiven and saved without any cost to us just by believing in Jesus Christ as God’s one and only Son.
Also, even if you believers break the heart of God by committing sins, He always waits for you to repent and turn back like a father waiting for a prodigal son. So, if you just turn back and repent deep in your heart and come back to God, He will not say, “You disappointed me” or “You committed this many sins.” He says He will forget as far as the east is from the west. The east will never meet the west. It is so far the ends cannot be seen. God will not remember just as far as the east is from the west.
If you show mercy, God will show His mercy to you. You do not know what you will face in future. If the Father has mercy on you, you will receive forgiveness.
John 13:34 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Those who know the love of the Lord cannot but give that love they received from the Lord to the brothers. If you become merciful, your every step will give out the scent of the Christ.
Like a rose that bloomed in wilderness, you will bloom in the warm and soft love of the Lord in this rough world, so that many people will gain life and comfort. Then, God will remember your deeds, have mercy on you and bless you in everything.
He will forgive your wrongdoings, fill your needs, and bless your businesses and workplaces. He will also give you spiritual and physical health. I urge you to have mercy in your heart and practice it. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will receive mercy and blessings from God who is full of love and mercy.