(Mat 5:7 NIV) Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Merciful to the less fortunate
(Psa 41:1-3 NIV) Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble. {2} The LORD will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. {3} The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.
(Prov 19:17 NIV) He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.
The Bible exhorts us not only to give our offerings to the church but also to the less fortunate. It even says we are giving to the Lord when we are giving to the poor.
Do you have a regular program of donating to those who are in need?
Merciful to those who have wronged us
(Mat 6:14 NIV) For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
(Mat 18:21-35 NIV) Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” {22} Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. {23} “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. {24} As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. {25} Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. {26} “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ {27} The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. {28} “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. {29} “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ {30} “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. {31} When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. {32} “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. {33} Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ {34} In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. {35} “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
The other group of people we have to be merciful towards are those who have wronged us.
Read more about forgiving others.
Merciful to the lost
When Jesus saw the lost, He was filled with so much mercy for them that He wept.
(Luke 19:41-44 NIV) As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it {42} and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes. {43} The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. {44} They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Matthew 9:3638 (NIV) When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
We can show mercy to the lost by witnessing to them and telling them about Jesus.