The Spiritual Gift of Mercy

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5)

Good Morning Oddballers,

Today I want to touch on the spiritual gift of mercy because It is a spiritual gift that I need to cover for mt spiritual gift series. I realize that I have recently done a post on mercy, but I want to try and take a different approach on mercy and see how as disciples we can demonstrate mercy to the people around us.

"Mercy" in Latin, means "price paid" and is a broad term that refers to benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a "variety of ethical, relgious, social, and legal contexts" according to the dictionary. It's interesting how mercy can be connected to price paid on a Christian standpoint since Christ paid for our sins on the cross and gave us "mercy". Maybe in a way, Jesus dying on the cross was a form of mercy, because we as sinners were forgiven for our sin at that very moment. Jesus paying the price was mercy, and we should see it as that. I try not to connect mercy and forgiveness together when I talk with people, but now that I have been reading a bit on mercy, I feel like they are roughly one and the same and should be talked about as such. We should forgive people and pay the price for forgiveness. That is the basic foundation of Christianity.

Am I saying that mercy involves sacrifice? Absolutely, we need to sacrifice our bitterness, anger, and our earthly desires to forgive and give "mercy" to those who are sometimes undeserving. We need to sacrifice how we feel about another person sometimes just to do what is right and in God's image. Mercy isn't something that comes easy. If it is easy for you, then maybe you aren't working hard enough. It takes recognition and discipline to truely deny yourself, take up your cross, and sacrifice yourself for others regardless of their position, status, or burdens.

We as Christians need to step up to the plate and take a stand with Mercy and show Mercy to the people around us. I think it would be absolutely amazing to watch how the world will change to be an amazing place if all the lukewarm Christians fully committed themselves and Biblical Christians together stepping up to the plate and showing some genuine Mercy. Because Like the musician Duffy says, "I'm only begging you for mercy, so why won't you release me?"

Come On people, show some mercy, sacrifice for others. Pay the price.

How much are you willing to pay for your faith??

God Bless,

Oddball