When was the last time you had mercy on someone?

For me, it happens every day. I should also note that every day many people are merciful to me.

Now here’s the real hard question, when was the last time you had mercy on someone who did you wrong?

That’s definitely a harder question to answer for most of us.

For some reason when somebody treats us unfairly or badly we feel that they don’t deserve our mercy.

What if God treated you that way?  What if after you sinned God never showed you mercy? Ok, he might show you mercy the first time you sinned, but after that, he said, “You should have learned your lesson before!”

Oh my GOSH. Life would be so different.

Today I want to encourage everyone to think of one person who needs your mercy, who you don’t really want to give it.

Maybe it’s a person who lied to you, or “borrowed” something and hasn’t returned it yet, or maybe it’s someone who abused you, spoke ill of you to others, made you feel bad, anything.

After you have that person, take a second to pray for them. Pray that God will soften your heart to allow you to show them mercy.  Pray that God will bless their lives. Pray for their health.

By now some of you may be saying “NO WAY AM I PRAYING FOR THAT PERSON”.

Who are you hurting by not showing them mercy? Do they even know that you are holding on to those hard feelings?

Probably not.

You are only hurting yourself by not showing them mercy. YOUR blood pressure is higher, YOUR stress is rising, YOUR health is suffering, YOUR time is being lost, YOUR life is changing, YOUR mindset is degrading.

YOU get the point. By not showing them mercy you are the real person who is suffering.

So stop right now and pray for them.