Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
—Matthew 5:7
Viewing someone with disapproval and thinking, “If I were you, I would [do such and such].” No! If I were you, I would feel and act exactly as you are feeling and acting.
Being merciful is changing our view to compassionate understanding rather than merciless judgment. “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (Jas 2:13).
A French proverb asserts, “To know all is to forgive all.” We can never know all, but we can make a deliberate attempt to get inside another person’s skin and understand where they’re coming from.
An awareness that we have been the recipient of divine mercy should motivate us to extend mercy.
“How blest are those who show mercy; mercy shall be shown to them” (Mt 5:7 NEB). Conversely: “Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful” (Jas 2;13).
Jesus didn’t come to us as a merciless deity
but as a merciful human.