The Beatitudes Series by DUO Inspirations - Part 5

“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
                               Matthew 5:7 (KJV)
 
Hi friends,

     How are you today?  I have always enjoyed the Beatitudes and pray that you are enjoying reading and pondering The Beatitudes Series by DUO Inspirations.  In many of the verses of the Bible, we are told if we do this, this will happen.  The Beatitudes are no different.  As we can see, in this beatitude, if we are merciful to others, we will get mercy.  This verse reminds me of Matthew 6:12, where in the Lord’s prayer, we are told that God forgives us as we forgive others. 

     So, what do we need to do to be merciful?  What does merciful mean?  I do believe that forgiving others is a way to be merciful.  Yet, I don’t believe it is the only way to be merciful.  I think being merciful encompasses many things.  What do you think?

     I think to be merciful means to be kind to others, to help out when you can, to lighten their load.  I also think it means to be sympathetic and empathetic to their feelings and experiences.  Being merciful is showing the type of kindness, caring, love, and understanding that we would want others to show, especially if we were struggling and in need. 

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     When we think about mercy, we can imagine a person struggling to carry a heavy load.  The person may be tired, weak, depressed, down, frustrated, sad, overwhelmed, afraid, or any number of things.  The load could be a physical load, such as large bags of groceries or difficult manual labor.  The load could be children or others who are not cooperating.  The load could be an illness or sorrow, a loss of a loved one or an estrangement of some kind.  The load could be disbelief and a spiritual void.  The load could be anger or division of some sort.  The load could be sin.  The load could be homelessness or financial worry.  It doesn’t matter the load.

     The question is… do we help and try to lighten the load in some way?  Do we help, give, encourage, heal, forgive, or show any act of kindness, love, or understanding?  Or, do we walk away or add to the stress and burden in some way?

     This situation can be likened, in a way, to the saying, “What goes around comes around.”  Yet, in a way, it is different.  Although, we can say that if we show mercy to others, God will show mercy to us, unlike the saying, God gives us soooooo much more than we could ever give another.  So, in this situation we can say the saying is, “What goes around comes around infinitely better and more than we could ever imagine.” 

     In other words, if we are merciful to others, God will be more merciful to us than we can even imagine.  That brings us back to the fact that we are talking about the beatitudes.  That is to say, that we will be blessed (happy beyond belief) if we are merciful to others, because if we are merciful, God will be infinitely more merciful and better merciful than we could ever imagine.
 
Heavenly Father,
     Thank you for your infinite love, kindness, and understanding.  Thank you for your holy Word and for the instruction you give to lead us to true happiness with you.  Help us to be merciful to others, Oh Lord.  I ask you this through your Son, Jesus.  Amen. 
 
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Reflective questions for Matthew 5:7 (KJV):
*What does Matthew 5:7 mean to me?
*What does merciful mean to me?
*Am I merciful?
*How am I merciful?
*What can I do to better live according to the words in Matthew 5:7?

Note:  If you haven't already, you may want to read the other posts in the series:
*The Beatitudes Series - Part 1
*The Beatitudes Series - Part 2
*The Beatitudes Series - Part 3
*The Beatitudes Series - Part 4

Now, it is your turn.
     I am so thankful that you are here.  I hope you are enjoying The Beatitudes Series by DUO Inspirations.  I would be interested in your thoughts and feedback.  What are your thoughts?  Please, feel free to comment below or contact me.  Also, if you haven't already, please consider signing up below to get the Faith Blog by DUO Inspirations and other faith content in your inbox.  If you are finding value in the Faith Blog by DUO Inspirations, please share it with friends and family.  Thank you.