Blessed Are the Merciful

Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount

March 13, 2020

Blessed Are the Merciful

“God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

Matthew 5:7

In the Beatitudes, Jesus is taking us to a much deeper understanding of what it means to be in a right relationship with God. In this beatitude, Jesus takes us deeper into an understanding of forgiveness. I believe there are three levels at which we can understand Christian forgiveness.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians: “Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (Colossians 3:13b). We forgive because the Lord commanded it. This is the first level of forgiveness.

However, Jesus wants us to go deeper. As we mature in Christ, we will understand that it is in our best interest to forgive. We realize our Heavenly Father really does know best. We come to understand why mercy is an essential part of God’s triad of purpose for us: “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8 NIV). We learn that in the absence of forgiveness, all that is left are bitterness, anger and revenge.  We learn that when we practice forgiveness, when we extend mercy, our lives physically, emotionally and spiritually are enhanced. It is in our best interest to forgive, so we think of forgiveness not as something we have to do, but as something we get to do. This is the second level of forgiveness.

The closer we get to Christ, the more we become aware that “God is working in (us), giving (us) the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13). We find ourselves in the third level of forgiveness. We become like God and extend mercy because we want to. We are delighted with what God is doing in our life, and the desire of our heart is to share it with others.

My Takeaway: As we progress in our transformation to become like Christ, this promise of God becomes our reality.

“Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.”

2 Corinthians 3:16-18

The Message

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.