How to Be a Merciful Person
Faith in the living God should make us tender and merciful to others. Too often, however, our faith can devolve into caustic legalism and critical judgmentalism toward those with whom we disagree. How can we maintain a merciful heart toward our neighbors all around us?
Jesus challenges us in Matthew 9:13: “Go and learn what this means: I will have mercy and not sacrifice.”
Mercy is a major matter in the heart of God and a heavy weight of responsibility on us. Jesus says it is of higher value than religious activity. Anyone can go through the motions of religion, but not everyone has a heart of mercy toward others. Mercy is the “boomerang be-attitude,” for Jesus teaches the one who is merciful receives mercy. Mercy is super practical love in action; it is the strength of kindness.
The question before us now is how can we become merciful toward others in our lives? Consider these four action steps.
First, merciful people know they need mercy
We are all like that Canaanite woman, with problems beyond our ability, who cried, “Have mercy on me, O LORD.” She was willing to eat the crumbs that fell from the table. All of us need the mercy of God’s great salvation:
Titus 3:5; Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy He saved us.
Without God’s mercy we would all be lost. We are all like the thieves on the cross, doubters like Thomas, deniers like Peter, running from God like Jonah, insecure like Jeremiah, angry like Moses, lustful like David. We all need mercy!
We will be merciful in proportion to our recognition that we recognize our desperate need for mercy. Never forget you need mercy and this will help you be merciful.
A second key to being merciful is to see all people have needs
In Matthew 12:1, the disciples were hungry and so they picked the grains of wheat and rubbed them before eating them. This put the Pharisees into apocalyptic anger. In their mind, they were breaking the Sabbath day. “Look at them, Jesus! Tell them they are wrong!” They Pharisees lacked mercy. They did not care or see the need of the disciples, that they were hungry.
The Pharisees failed to see the disciples’ need and only saw them breaking their tradition. Jesus wisely went back to an obscure passage in 1 Samuel 21:1-6, and drew a conclusion from it. The priest dealt in mercy toward David and gave him the bread that under the Law only the priests could eat. The Law made no allowance for David to eat that bread but he gave it to him in mercy, and it was the right thing to do (Leviticus 24:8, 9).
The way to be merciful is realize that every person you will ever meet has needs and in their need, they need mercy. We are all sinners in need of God’s love and so we should treat one another with mercy.
What about homeless people? What about those lost in sin? What about the poor, or the rich? The educated or the uneducated? What about those who never had a father? Never forget that every person you meet has some sort of need, this will help you be merciful.
A third principle is merciful people refuse elevating tradition above truth
In this narrative the hair-splitting legalists ignored the weighty matters, but were critical of others in small matters and their man-made rules. They were merciless on those who did not see their tradition as they saw it. They would rather a person remain hungry than have a simple meal (Matthew 12:1-3) or to remain sick than see him healed on the Sabbath day (Matt.12:10).
Hair-splitting legalism is deadening to our faith and causes a person to be judgmental, critical and hateful. Let’s put aside elevating our traditions above the truth of God’s Word. Instead, merciful people seek the real meaning of Scripture (Matthew 9:13).
Finally, a merciful person trusts Jesus, the the LORD of the Sabbath Day (Matthew 12:8).
Since Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath Day, He is Lord of every day. Since He is Lord of every day, He is Lord over all creation, which He created in six days and rested on the seventh day! Let’s trust and love Jesus, who is greater than the day or the temple, and worship Him. Trust in Jesus because you need mercy. This will be the key in treating people right: with mercy!
Matt Recker is the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in New York City.