“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23

Mercy is to be seen in the life of every believer! A great example of such mercy is found in Luke 10 with the story of the Good Samaritan. When the Good Samaritan bound up the wounds of the man who had been beaten and robbed, he showed him mercy. When he took him to the nearest inn and paid for his lodging until he was well, he showed grace! His mercy relieved the pain, and his grace provided for the healing!

The most obvious way we can show mercy is through physical acts, as the Good Samaritan did. As the Lord Jesus specifically commanded, we are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, and give practical help where we can! In Matthew 5:7 the Lord says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” This idea of showing mercy is not merely a New Testament idea. Look at what Deuteronomy 15:7-8 has to say about showing mercy: “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.”

Paul reminds us, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” 

Mercy is to be shown by our attitude as well as our actions. Mercy does not hold a grudge, harbor resentment, capitalize on another’s failures or weaknesses, or publicize another’s sin.

Mercy shows pity, as the Lord Jesus did from the Cross when He could say, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk. 23:34). To the repentant thief on the cross, mercy could say, “Truly I say unto you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (v. 43).

Mercy should be seen in the way we correct one another: “in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth…” (2 Tim. 2:25). Jude picks up on the same thought, saying, “keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh” (Jude 21-23).

We could also say that we can show mercy by praying for one another and reaching out to the lost.

In Matthew 18:23-35, the Lord Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving servant. The first servant owed his master a great debt that he could not pay, and he begged his master to be patient with him. We could say that he begged for mercy! But once forgiven, he went out to someone who owed him far less by comparison, demanded that every cent be repaid, and had him thrown into prison. When the master heard this, he “summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’” (Mt. 18:32-33).

Anchor For Today:
As we have seen, we have been shown unlimited mercy that cancels our unpayable debt of sin. We continue to be shown mercy each and every day. How can we then refuse to show mercy to those who come into our lives?