Friday

Related Verses
Matt. 5:7
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.

2 Tim. 1:16-18
16 May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain;
17 But being in Rome, he sought me out diligently and found me.
18 May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord in that day. And in how many things he served me in Ephesus, you know best.

Matt. 7:12
12 Therefore all that you wish men would do to you, so also you do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

Luke 10:30, 33-37 (33-34)
30 Jesus, taking up the question, said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who having both stripped him and beaten him, went away, leaving him half dead.
33 But a certain Samaritan, who was journeying, came upon him; and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion;
34 And he came to him and bound up his wounds and poured oil and wine on them. And placing him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, Take care of him; and whatever you spend in addition to this, when I return, I will repay you.
36 Which of these three, does it seem to you, has become a neighbor to him who fell into the hands of the robbers?
37 And he said, The one who showed mercy to him. And Jesus said to him, Go, and you do likewise.

Related Reading
To be righteous is to give one what he deserves, but to be merciful [Matt. 5:7] is to give someone better than what he deserves. For the kingdom of the heavens we need to be not only righteous but also merciful. If we are merciful to others, the Lord will grant us mercy (2 Tim. 1:16, 18), especially at His judgment seat (James 2:12-13). 

In Matthew 5:7 there is the promise that those who are merciful shall receive mercy…Therefore, although we should be strict in dealing with ourselves, we should be very merciful in dealing with others. This is not an outward matter; it is a matter related to our inward being. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2648-2649) 

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When most people learn to restrict themselves righteously, they inevitably make the same, if not more stringent, demands on others. However, the Lord said that a person living in the kingdom of the heavens is full of mercy toward others while being righteous toward himself. 

Mercy accommodates people more than grace…For example, to give money to a friend is grace, but to give money to a beggar is mercy, because a beggar is totally unworthy of the grace that we would give him. 

Someone who lets the heavens rule is gracious to those who are proper and worthy of grace and also shows mercy to those who are improper and unworthy of grace…To be righteous is to make demands and to be strict, but to be merciful is the opposite. 

The result of being merciful toward others is that God shows mercy to us…God treats us according to how we treat others [cf. Matt. 7:12]. If we have mercy on others, God will have mercy on us. (CWWL, 1955, vol. 3, “The Living and Principles of the Kingdom People,” pp. 66-67) 

If you are truly strict with yourself, then you will know how to be merciful to others. But do not try to be merciful to others without first being righteous with yourself. Every sloppy person is merciful to others because he has already been merciful to himself. If he sleeps late every morning, he will be very merciful to others who sleep late. This kind of mercy is not mercy at all; it is absolutely wrong…Only a strict person, a righteous person, knows how to be merciful. If you would be merciful to others according to the fifth blessing, you must first be righteous toward yourself according to the fourth blessing. 

We must be righteous and strict with ourselves, never making excuses for ourselves. But when others offend us, thereby exposing their shortage, we must be merciful toward them. All those who are self-righteous condemn others and never let them go…To ourselves, we must be righteous and strict, serious and sober. But toward others we must be merciful. In Himself God is righteous. However, if He were righteous to the uttermost in dealing with us, we would all be killed. Although God is righteous in relation to Himself, He is full of mercy in dealing with us. As fallen sinners, we surely need God’s mercy. We also must learn to be righteous with ourselves and merciful toward others. This matter of being righteous toward ourselves and merciful toward others is not first a matter of outward behavior; it is first a matter of our inward attitude, of our inward being. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 180-181) 

Further Reading: CWWL, 1955, vol. 3, “The Living and Principles of the Kingdom People,” ch. 1; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 251; Life-study of Matthew, msg. 15