Blessed Are The Merciful

Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.
Matthew 5:7

The first three of the Beatitudes describes a person who becomes broken before God and empty of self. The poor in spirit who see and understand that they need God's provision, those who grieve and mourn because they lost something important trying to play God in their own lives, the meek who come to understand their right value in God and lack of value without Him. This is followed by the sincere and desperate craving for relationship and right-standing with God in verse 6. Now we see the descriptions of that right-standing and relationship, or righteousness, exists and manifests in the heart, mind and soul of the person who has been broken of self and hungry for God. The first of these descriptions is mercy.

Mercy comes from the heart that has full understanding of its own defects and value without God, has let regret lead to repentance and forgiveness from God and self for self and for others, has surrendered to the direction and authority of God and has come to understand that a life worth living is found in having mercy from God and has a desire for everyone to experience that same mercy. Our mercy towards others is born out of understanding God's mercy for us.

When I became broken, or as some say, hit rock bottom, I could no longer deceive myself into believing that I could control and manage my own life. I knew that I needed to completely surrender my will and my life to God. But on the way to that point I had done so much damage that I could never be worthy of any relationship, much less relationship with my Creator. Instead of judgement, I discovered a loving and merciful God reaching out to me and saying I will forgive you and help you change into someone that you no longer hate and wish to destroy and all I ask in return is to have relationship with you. That is mercy. And I am grateful for it. I owe everything I am and everything I will be to a merciful God who showed love rather than judgement. Understanding that allows me to respond to others the way God has responded to me, with love and mercy rather than judgement.

In another place, Jesus said "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." God wants relationship with people living a life of love toward Him and others. He is not looking for religious righteousness and some ability to ritually do the right thing at the right time in the right manner, but a heart desiring closeness to Him to seek after rightness in spirit not law. The formal way of righteousness, sacrifice, led to death. But accepting mercy and love and then giving those away gives life.

Now I no longer have to measure up to some standard. I can rely on God to fill in the gaps where I fall short. I don't have to remember over 600 little nitpicky laws that I can't keep, only one. All I have to do is love. I can't keep that one either, but God within me will give me His love to share so that I don't have to rely on my own ability to show love. When I see how little my own anything has to do with why I have God's love, then I can not help but to realize that no one else should have to deserve His love either. I no longer sit in self-righteous and religious judgement over others but can show mercy, understanding that they have been given the same grace as I, whether they have discovered that or not. And the more I walk in that principle of being merciful rather than judging others, the more I see the mercy of God in my own life.