Day Seven
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
Mercy is an old-fashioned word. It is difficult to understand. I once attempted to do a Christmas Card about mercy, but it failed miserably. The reason was I did not understand mercy, Yet God gives us mercy every hour of every day.
Why? We do good things. We are nice to people. We help where we can. But we are not grateful for the good things; we are nice but not always kind, and we are not thankful for the opportunity to help another. We focus on ourselves.
I am guilty of this. I have to fight against this all the time. I was hurt badly by others in my childhood. It became easy to blame my problems on those people who hurt me. The truth is. They were responsible for how they hurt me, but I was responsible on how I let their hurt keep hurting me.
A person I know hurt me deeply for over sixteen years. The hurt and damage she did to me was public. I was condemned, belittled and broken by her. The wounds go deep into my soul. I could say nothing because I knew my complaints would only make things worse for me. The problem is that she put herself as a perfect Christian while I look at myself as a failed Christian.
Lately she has been placed on my heart, and I have prayed for aid in forgiving her. This will take time. One day I would like to believe I could say to her that I understand that her heart hurts, and that she needs to face it to let the wounds heal. I know she will never come to me and say to me that she is sorry. It is I that has to be merciful. I have at this point blocked her from my life. I hurt her. I was unkind.
God is merciful to each of us. We need to follow His example and be merciful to others. The first step is to realize that you need to forgive another. The second step is to forgive that person and to change that hurt into kindness. Why should we forgive?
Jesus told us to in the Lord’s prayer… “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” When we carry “a hurt” in our heart, we carry what we think is a debt that a person owes to us. We count out those who owe us. They need to make it right. It is our right. Isn’t it? Except according to God’s law, we are to give them mercy and forgive them. This is not easy. It takes soul searching.
Jesus said in this verse, “Blessed are those who have mercy (who are forgiving) for they shall have mercy (forgiveness).”
Each time we forgive another person who has harmed us, we are blessed because we have given mercy. The more we forgive others, the more we are blessed. The more we can give kindness and patience which are acts of love; the better we become.
I know this because I have forgiven others who have harmed me. Some I could never tell them to their face, but it did not mean forgiveness was useless. Forgiving someone is the first major step in healing your heart. In forgiving, I let go of the pain- not the memories but the pain. For me that is all that I needed to go forward.
Today’s Question:
When you have forgiven someone, how did your heart feel?
Ever in God’s Love,
Mary Elizabeth Todd
November 18, 2024
Ruhamah United Methodist Church Bible Verses 