Guaranteed Exchange

Read Proverbs 27

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

Matthew 5:7

Tucked in among the Beatitudes, we find Jesus’ statement of what we know as the Golden Rule. Jesus gave it later in the Sermon on the Mount. “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you” (Matthew 7:12).

To this profound relational principle, Jesus added the teaching that God stands ready to bless this kind of attitude, which sees others deserving nothing less than what we hope to receive. This runs exactly contrary to selfish human desires, which tend to think of benefits only at the expense of or loss by others. Rather than change the desire, Jesus simply challenged us to enlarge it to include everyone. He used this same principle in the second half of the Great Commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31).

The application of mercy, love, and simple kindness to others ultimately benefits us. God guarantees it.

A WORD FOR TODAY

Practice mercy.

Lord, I know I pray “Forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us” without really thinking about what I’m asking. Teach me to extend mercy more readily.