Blessed Are The Merciful
How has God shown you mercy?
Verse of the Day
‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.’
Today’s Devotional
How does our relationship with God affect our human relationships? We have all known people who say they believe in Jesus but you see no evidence of that belief in their actions. Some of us have been those people at one point or another.
Jesus teaches us several things in the Beatitudes about how our faith spills out into our dealings with others. The first is mercy. ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.’ When we know how deeply we need God, and we are aware of how much forgiveness and mercy we have received from God, we become people who extend mercy to our fellows. We don’t need to punish people, or be vindictive, or seek revenge. We don’t even need to point out flaws. We offer mercy. What is mercy? Mercy is not getting the deserved consequences. It can be as simple as not screaming at the guy who cuts you off in traffic, or as difficult as praying blessings over someone who has hurt you.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” What does it mean to be pure in heart and how does that affect our relationships? There are many interpretations of “pure in heart”. My thoughts are that the pure-hearted are those who look for (and see) the good in others, in themselves, and in the world. These people don’t speak and act with ulterior motives. They acknowledge that all people are created in the image of our loving God, no matter how unlovely some people may behave. They have the unique ability to see God’s beauty all around them. They are honest about their own weaknesses and make allowances for the weaknesses of others. It reminds me of Jesus’s teaching to be like little children.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” There is a big difference between a person who creates peace among his peers versus one who tries to sweep things under the rug in order to keep the peace. Peacemakers must be willing to work hard at their relationships, must be willing to give up their rights and opinions, must be able to value unity over everything. These people are diligent in reminding us of truth, and to lift our eyes from our own will and gaze upon that which really matters, which is Jesus Himself.
Finally, we see that we are to give up all need and right to defend ourselves. “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” If we are acting in the ways Jesus has already outlined and someone gets offended, we allow God to be our defender. Jesus is implying that we will be persecuted for believing in Him and behaving in the ways He has described. (So I’m not sure why we are surprised when this happens.) It is very likely that we will find opposition to living a Jesus-focused life. In Matthew 5:12, Jesus tells us to be glad when we are insulted or persecuted because of our belief in Him. If we can do this, we are displaying full, unhindered trust in God.
I don’t know about you, but I have not arrived at the place spiritually where I can say that I display all of these beautiful qualities. But here’s what I believe: The more days I walk in relationship with God, and the more of my heart I give Him access to, I trust that these qualities will slowly grow. Jesus is teaching us who He created us to be. And we all need Him to be able to live that out.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
What would it look like to extend mercy to someone in your life today?
What does “pure in heart” mean to you? What might it look like in your life?
Is there a situation in your life where God is inviting you to be a peaceMAKER? How can you ask for God’s help to create peace?
How have you ever been persecuted or insulted because of your belief in Jesus? How does the thought of not doing anything to defend yourself sit with you?