“BE MERCIFUL, JUST AS YOUR FATHER IS MERCIFUL.”

Luke 6:36

When you begin to breakdown this verse, there’s a lot of questions that arise. Some of those questions may include: What does it mean to be merciful? How can I understand God’s mercy? Is this is even possible?

The idea of being merciful can be understood as not receiving what you deserve. An example of this is by looking at the way that God has shown mercy to us. God has shown mercy in that He allows for us to be able to be saved; we no longer have to receive judgment for our sins. God allows for us to receive forgiveness and to be seen how Jesus is seen: holy and righteous. This heart of forgiveness should be carried out in our lives with others. 

A verse that I feel goes along with this idea is Ephesians 4:31 which states,

”LET ALL BITTERNESS AND WRATH AND ANGER AND CLAMOR AND SLANDER BE PUT AWAY FROM YOU, ALONG WITH ALL MALICE.”

This passage describes very well the idea of how to be merciful. If you didn’t show mercy then you would have bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander among you. God isn’t any of those things. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:48,

”THEREFORE YOU ARE TO BE PERFECT, AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT.”

If you ask me, I know for a fact that I’m not fulfilling that verse but we aren’t expected to be perfect in everything we do because ultimately that’s not possible as long as we have these bodies that crave sin. God shows us that we should strive to be like God; to be holy, as He is holy. We to, should strive to show mercy to others, in the same way God has shown mercy to us.