8 Resolutions Jesus Would Be Happy WithSample

5. Resolve to Let Mercy Lead

By now, you can feel the shift.

The first four beatitudes are all about receiving, the empty-handed ones, the aching ones, the hungry ones. Jesus blesses those who come with nothing but need.

But now something turns.

The kingdom isn’t just something we receive. It’s something that starts to move through us. And the first sign that grace has actually taken root?

Mercy.

Not as a one-off act.

Not a moment of pity.

But a way of being in the world. A posture. A flow.

Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful…for they will be shown mercy.”

This isn’t karma. It’s not a deal.

It’s the rhythm of the kingdom.

When you live mercifully, you stay open to mercy.

You stay in the current of God’s compassion.

The Greek word Jesus uses, eleēmōn, is more than just a feeling.

It’s mercy with muscle.

It’s empathy that moves.

It’s compassion that costs you something.

To be merciful is to:

See pain, and not scroll past.

See failure, and not condemn.

See sin, and still move toward the sinner with love.

Mercy is what love looks like when it meets brokenness. And if you’ve tasted real mercy, the kind that meets you in your mess, not when you were fixed up but when you were falling apart, then you know: mercy doesn’t make you soft. It makes you strong.

Mercy is what frees us.

Jesus didn’t just preach this, He lived it.

He forgave the men who hammered the nails.

He reinstated Peter after the betrayal.

He ate with the ones religion kept outside the circle.

This is what God is like.

As Jesus says later, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36, NIV)

Mercy is God’s default.

Not judgment. Not punishment.

Mercy.

But here’s the hard truth: when we refuse to show mercy, we start to shut down the very part of us that needs it. We block the flow. James says it bluntly, “Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13)

It’s not that God runs out of grace. It’s when we harden our hearts toward others thatwe lose the capacity to receive what we no longer believe anyone else deserves.

Mercy is costly because it requires us to die to our sense of fairness. To let go of revenge. To forgive people who might never say sorry. To choose tenderness in a world built on retaliation.

But this is where real freedom lives. Because when you show mercy, you step into the flow of God’s own heart. And that flow never runs dry.

To be merciful in this cultural moment is to resist cynicism.

It’s choosing compassion over contempt.

Forgiveness over outrage.

Curiosity over cancellation.

It’s remembering that the same mercy that rescued you is meant to spill out of you.

So slow down.

Before you speak. Before you snap.

Ask, What would mercy look like right here?

Jesus is saying, Blessed are the ones who choose compassion when it’s easier to judge. Blessed are the ones who stay soft when the world goes hard. Blessed are the ones who’ve received mercy and live like it.

Because mercy always circles back.

Who can you extend mercy to today? Whether by forgiving, listening patiently, or showing kindness where it’s undeserved.

Prayer

Father, thank You for the mercy You’ve shown me, more than I deserve, more than I can measure. Teach me to live inside that mercy, to let it shape how I see, speak, and respond. Make me someone who doesn’t just receive grace, but gives it away freely. Help me choose compassion when I’d rather walk away. Jesus, make me merciful, like You. Amen.

Reflection

Who needs mercy from you right now? Who is someone you need to forgive, listen to, or move toward? What “cost” are you willing to pay to keep your heart open?