Listen:
“Therefore, be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” (Luke 6:36 NKJV)
Reflect:
Last August, I celebrated 40 years since I came to know Jesus as my Saviour. I was the prodigal daughter who went my own way when I got into University. I hurt God deeply with my actions. Yet, mercy sought me out. Mercy found me and brought me back home. God’s merciful arms embraced me at my worst. Mercy transformed me.
I have been a delightful recipient of God’s mercy in countless ways. This scripture compels me to live out my God-created identity and overflow with mercy and compassion toward others, just as my Father in Heaven graciously and generously lives towards me despite the many ways I hurt Him with my faithlessness.
We live in a world that is increasingly merciless in its words and actions. Many of us have suffered from the vindictive tendencies and awful behaviours of others, whether within the family, at the workplace and marketplace, or even within the church. We have tasted the bitter pill of injustice, unfair treatment, and calumny.
How do I, as someone to whom God has graciously shown mercy, react when I am a victim of the vicious and vindictive actions of others? How do I act when the pain of merciless words sears my heart like a hot rod? Jesus instructs me to follow my Father’s example, who is merciful to all, even at their worst.
Therefore, I, who have been a recipient of God’s generous mercy, must allow this truth to soothe the pain in my heart before I respond. I am a debtor of God’s mercy. I will sing of His covenant mercy until the pain of offence is transformed into praise.
God’s example of mercifulness at our worst compels us to show mercy to those who wound us because we understand the brokenness that leads people to break others. Therefore, I will remember to put on my bowels of mercies and be merciful.
Showing mercy to others expresses my profound gratitude for the precious gift of mercy God has given me.
Prayer of Response:
Thank You, God, for being so rich in mercy toward me. Thank You, God, for Your mercy, which is continually overflowing to all those who call upon You. I can never measure the superabundance of Your mercy, but I will forever be grateful for it.
Lord, strengthen us by Your grace to be rich in mercy toward those who hurt us. Help us to be merciful to those who hurt us the way You have been merciful to us at our worst.
Questions to Ponder:
- Mercy is the perfect attribute of God’s divine character. Can I, like my Father, show mercy by forgiving and withholding punishment when I have the power to inflict the maximum possible?
- Can I pause and remember that the person who wounded me is desperately in need of healing for their wounded soul?
—Submitted by: Irene Olumese
Irene is a lung transplant survivor and bilateral amputee who speaks and writes to inspire hope. As a certified Faith-Informed Transformational and Trauma Coach, Irene helps those wounded by life’s adversities heal the pain of their traumatic experiences and transform it into power, purpose and purpose that will serve eternal value. Irene is the Founder of the Feet of Grace Foundation, a charity organisation that provides prosthetic limbs for indigene amputees. She lives in Geneva with her husband, Peter.
Feature photo was created thru Canva by Irene Olumese. It is a collage of roses from Irene’s brother’s rose garden at his home in Melbourne, Australia. Walking in that garden is one of her personal testimonies of God’s precious gift of mercy.