Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love. 2 John 1:3
For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness. Psalms 89:2
Mercy? What exactly is mercy? This is definitely an attribute of God.
In the Greek the main word translated as mercy is elos. Defined / translated as compassion, mercy.
In the Hebrew the main word translated as mercy is checed. Defined / translated as favor, good deed, kindly, loving kindness, merciful kindness, mercy, and pity.
This is where the word ‘love’ in translated in Psalms 89:2 is actually the Hebrew word for mercy. Loving kindness and acts of clemency with goodwill towards those who need it or don’t deserve it are the main ideas within the Hebrew usage of the word checed.
In the Greek the word is much more about compassion and kindness. Both words obviously come from a heart of love and not from a narcissistic point of view or stance.
This attribute in my opinion is missing more and more from our culture, as we pull away from the things of God and focus on …self, power, control, and greed.
Where is God asking us to have more mercy? With whom?
What does it take to actually come with mercy towards another and what must be within our hearts to actually give mercy and acts of compassion and kindness to others?
What circumstances in your life is the Holy Spirit asking you to display His mercy towards others? Driving? Standing in lines? With your own family members?
By now you should have already figured it out that real mercy won’t happen without the heart of God being the Source of the mercy. This will only happen within us by the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise other motives are usually mixed as to the reasons we might display something ‘like’ mercy. Only God knows the intents of the human heart, and what our real motives are.
My prayer-
‘Oh Lord fill us with Your heart and Holy Spirit. Help us, guide us in Your ways. Speak to us what we are to do in every circumstance. Help us Lord to be merciful with those around us, just as You are merciful to us.’
(especially as I drive)