Mercy: God Gives You More Than You Deserve
- Bishop Keith Butler
- 12 minutes ago
- 1 min read
The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. (Psalm 145:8-9)
Webster's dictionary defines mercy as “compassion toward the guilty, a decision to forbear full punishment, and an act of giving someone better than what justice in the land demands.” Imagine a judge who could sentence someone to 15 years, but instead, he gives them three.
Now, take that example and make it even more extreme. Imagine someone is on death row, on the verge of execution, and instead, a man steps forward and takes the death that they were going to receive. That’s God’s powerful mercy.
The New Testament uses a Greek word for mercy, eleos, which describes a higher kind of mercy than what we experience from other humans. Eleos means being so full of compassion that it flows from someone immeasurably greater to someone immeasurably lesser.
Mercy isn’t weakness; it’s power under control. Mercy is the heart of God that looks upon the guilty and sees them only with eyes of compassion.
Practical Application
When you fail, don’t run from God; run to Him. You can’t hide from God. As you receive His mercy, remember that it is our call to show the same mercy to others. Be quick to forgive and quick to help others recover.
