Christian Advice

Mercy

"For judgment is without Mercy to the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgement." -James 2:13

"Mercy is compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm."
-Oxford
"Grace is the act of showing undeserved favor towards someone else." -Christianity.com
I Feel like I often mix up grace and mercy. Gods mercy spares us from the punishment we deserve while his grace gives us the undeserving gift of salvation.

Anyways, now that we've gone over definitions I'd want to go more in-depth about what it means to show mercy towards your neighbor. I think a specific example of Jesus having mercy on someone was in John 8:2-11, when he forgave the adulteress woman. A quick summary: Jesus was teaching at a temple when all of a sudden the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to him. The Pharisees wanted to stone her because that was what the law of Moses commanded them to do. Jesus told them that only the people without sin should be the first to throw the stone at her. They all left because they were aware that they are just as much of a sinner as she is. Jesus told the woman that he does not condemn her so she may go in peace and sin no more. He showed us the same mercy by dying for our sins on the cross.
I feel like many of us in that situation may not have thrown stones at her but would have been silently judging her in our heads.

If Jesus who knew no sin was able to spare the adulteress woman of her punishment so quickly then why is it hard for us to have mercy on others when they sin against us? For me I'd say I've struggled with forgiveness because of PRIDE. I sometimes think, "WeLl I WouLdn't dO sOmEtHiNg LiKe ThAt sO wHy sHoUld I lEt ThEm gEt aWaY WiTh iT?" But the truth is even though I may not commit the same offense as the other person there are probably other things I do that God and others have shown me mercy for so why not show the same to others? When we are humble and realize that we are just as imperfect as everyone else it becomes easy to show mercy towards others.

Another reason why it could be hard for me to show mercy is because I feel like the person wouldn't give me the same grace if I were the one who hurt them. But it doesn't matter how they will treat me because God has forgiven me of so much so I should show that same mercy towards others. In Luke 7:47, Jesus explains that the woman with the alabaster jar loved so much because her many sins have been forgiven and that the one who has been forgiven little loves little. But we have been forgiven for so much. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, which could lead us to perish, but Christ spared us because he loved us so we need to do the same for others.

John 13:34 explains that when we love one another as Christ loves us, everyone will know that we are his disciples. What better way to show that love than by sparing your neighbor of wrongdoings that most today would seek revenge about? In our culture it is completely normal to cut someone off for a minor offense but I challenge you to have mercy as God has had mercy on you and have that difficult conversation before letting them go.

More verses:
Matthew 6:14- "For if you forgive others their offenses, your Heavenly Father will forgive you as well."

Colossians 3:8- "But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth."

Colossians 3:12-14 -"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection."
‭‭