Sunday, March 20, 2022
“Mercy for Everyone!”
Today’s challenge and the theme for this week is Mercy. Mercy is something so common that we take it for granted. What is it? Dictionaries define it in several ways, but essentially, we will define mercy as “compassionate treatment of those in distress” or causing harm. (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mercy)
We could come up with lots of reasons why we don’t need to express mercy. For starters, mercy infers that we are involved in difficult situations and that we are the ones who are in a position to change the outcome. We can have mercy for the man or woman standing on the corner with a cardboard sign. We can express mercy for someone who has hurt our feelings. We can show mercy to the driver who cuts us off or the loved one who has caused us great harm.
Why mercy? Why should we embrace this choice? Frankly, because we receive it ourselves. Because of God’s Grace, we receive immeasurable goodness that we don’t always acknowledge and often overlook. Yet, during those times we are at fault, God takes it one more step forward. Our bad choices, conscious wrong-doings, and outright sins deserve punishment, just like our child that hits their sister, steals the cookie, or tells a lie. But God doesn’t punish us. Instead, God offers Mercy!
So then…who deserves mercy? No one. But, who needs it? Everyone!
Today we Choose Mercy because God was and is merciful to us!
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7, ESV)
