The Quality of Mercy
Shakespeare wrote that mercy blesses those who give and those who take. It relieves the guilty of the burden of conscience and the harmed from anger. It is freeing. Twice blessed. Win-win. We all know what it’s like to need forgiveness, but we must understand that giving it is equally powerful. Sometimes, that lesson comes so late in life that we don’t have much opportunity to exercise it.
Since we always want mercy, we should always be ready to dispense it. It may involve being willing to suffer a wrong, but it will free us from the need to continually be vindicated. A person can be obsessive-compulsive on righting wrongs. This leads to frustration because you don’t have time to get to them all. Add in blind-spots and blatant inability, and it’s easier to understand why God claims that as His territory.
Don’t take from someone else the opportunity that you desire- the chance to right a wrong and be forgiven. People yearn for that, and a merciful man will not find himself friendless. I know several people that are so right they have no companions. Nobody likes a know-it-all. It is a human foible to want others to suffer for the wrongs they have done though we don’t want that for ourselves.
Jesus gave a parable of a man that owed an uncountable sum of money to a king. As the man pled for leniency, the king’s merciful heart moved him to forgive the debt. Amazingly, that man assaulted another who owed him a small sum of money and had him thrown into jail over the debt. The king was infuriated and condemned the unforgiving man to prison and torture. Jesus said the same type punishment awaits all the unmerciful.
Jesus said our forgiveness of others must be heart-felt to be genuine. The disciples recognized they needed increased faith to be able to meet this demand and asked for such. Jesus intoned that a little faith will grow into great faith if it is cultivated and exercised. Nothing is impossible with God. A little faith becomes great faith. A little forgiveness can become a lifestyle of forgiveness. We get good at anything we practice.
I long to be forgiven. Life is so hard under the parching sun. But, I don’t only want blessings for myself- I want to be a blessing. I want to give others what they need. We cannot fulfill the law of Christ without so doing. Love is circular, and so is forgiveness. The quality of mercy is that is gentle and flowing. Not strained. Rain from heaven. We show ourselves most like God when mercy tempers justice.
Sterl
« Go back