Do you know mercy? Do you know the mercy of God the Father?

If you know the mercy of the Father, then you can extend that same mercy to others, whether they know Jesus as their Lord and Savior or do not know Him as their Lord and Savior.

~”Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”~Matthew 5:7, KJV~

By showing mercy to others, you are showing others agape love that is pure of the Lord and compassion. You are being loving. You are being tender. You are being kind. You are being compassionate. You are being merciful.

I remember when my two best friends from college, who I knew for five years, decided to end their friendship with me. It was for many reasons, and I had to forgive myself for hurting them and for sinning against them and for the horrible things that they did to me that hurt me. It was a process that took about two years, including counseling at my church.

I reached out to them. Many times. Through phone call, text, and messages on social media, asking for their forgiveness. One of them reached out to me, telling me that she, “forgave me of my offenses,” yet she did not show me mercy in re-kindling the friendship with me. The other friend told me that she would, “reach out to me,” but did not fulfill her promise to me. She lied to me.

I’m not saying that what these two friends did was entirely right. I believe that it was not entirely right because the first friend did not show mercy and the other friend did not show me mercy either by lying to me. This is the part of the story that I had to forgive them for not showing me mercy and bless them every time that I prayed before my Father.

I learned and God taught me through this experience that He is merciful and that I am commanded, as His daughter, to show mercy to others because Jesus demonstrated mercy to others through His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave.

It is important to God that as His children and to be a reflection of His mercy to others that we show mercy to others. I’m not saying that we enable sin. That is where boundaries come in and can be helpful. But, we are commanded by God to show mercy to others because it is what Christ did for us. We cannot shut people out and think that what we do is right because God never shut anyone out of Heaven. Jesus is Lord and He is the God of second and third chances. Not one time that an offense is committed and then, it is the end.

I eventually forgave these two friends. I have also moved forward with God by my side, as He always shows me mercy. They are new every morning in my heart and in my soul.

~”Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”~Lamentations 3:22-23, NIV~

What about you? Do you show mercy to others and do you have peace in your heart, whether you made the choice to show mercy or not to show mercy to others?