Jesus told the religious leaders of his day, "Go and study what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'" Those of us who are Christians are called to practise mercy. Even when it's difficult. It is comparatively easy to practise judgment; it is much harder to show mercy. Condemnation comes a whole lot more naturally than compassion. And yet, mercy must triumph over judgment.
This is made especially clear in the oft-neglected book of Jude:
But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. (Jude 20 - 23)
Our mercy comes as a response to the mercy that God has lavished on us in Jesus Christ, and for which we wait. Jude lists three types of people with whom we have to deal, and to all these we show mercy, albeit in different ways. We have mercy even on those who don't deserve it - indeed, that's precisely what mercy means.
| ← Previous day | (Calendar) | Next day → |