Romans 12:8, Showing Mercy
Romans 12:8 …he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
Jesus teaches us the blessing of showing mercy to others in Matthew 5:7: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” The merciful are compassionate, benevolently merciful involving thought and action. And those who obtain mercy are those who are freed from deserved punishment. It is the outworking of God’s love in one’s heart.
Very often, we fail to show mercy to others because of the wickedness they have done and therefore we feel they do not deserve mercy. That may be so! Yet, this character trait of Christian benevolence sees beyond the man and his sins. It is designed to touch the heart by withholding deserved punishment in order to jolt the recipient to repentance.
Our Lord Jesus’ dealing with us is the supreme example. We were condemned to eternal destruction in hell fire but God in His mercy sent Jesus to make a way for us! Only the redeemed soul will experience such love and exhibit it. Jesus pronounced such a one as blessed.
The act of dispensing mercy is to be done with cheerfulness. William MacDonald gave this testimony, “A Christian lady once said, “When my mother became old and needed someone to care for her, my husband and I invited her to come and live with us. I did all I could to make her comfortable. I cooked for her, did her washing, took her out in the car, and generally cared for all her needs. But while I was going through the motions outwardly, I was unhappy inside. Subconsciously I resented the interruption of our usual schedule. Sometimes my mother would say to me, ‘You never smile anymore. Why don’t you ever smile? ’ You see, I was showing mercy, but I wasn’t doing it with cheerfulness.”
Jonathan Goforth, the missionary to China, is a good practitioner of this Christian trait of showing mercy to others by giving them the gospel.
Lord Crucified, give me a heart like Thine
give me a heart like Thine
Teach me to love the dying souls of men;
And keep my heart in closest touch with Thee,
And give me love, pure Calvary love,
To bring the lost to Thee.
May the Lord bless us with Jesus’ heart. Amen.