The need of Mercy

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

THE NEED OF MERCY

Rom 12:3-8

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

NIV

We have arrived at the last of the “gifts” of the Spirit, that Paul mentions, which is showing mercy. We do have to remember that all of these expressions of the Spirit are all from the same Spirit, that is to say, they are all his in the first place, and they remain his for if he gives them to more then one person over the centuries of time, then they are his and he simply expresses them through whomever he determines to when he determines to for the common good of all the members of the body of Christ. So then those who want to say that they have this “gift” then it would no longer belong to the Spirit as he gave it to a person. This is why we prefer to reference them as the expression of the Spirit within and through various people throughout the course of time for the benefit of others when needed. We should also note, if we haven’t, that the word “gift” means the grace or favor of God that one receives without any merit. That is we cannot earn these “gifts” or expressions of the Spirit by any human means. This is to say we cannot become educated, earning a degree in any area, and then indicate that is our “gift” because we would have some merit in that area which is listed as one of the “gifts” of the Spirit. So, let us deal with this area of showing mercy. The Greek word, eleeoo, means to have mercy on, specifically to bring help to the wretched. This would be a person who is in a very unhappy or unfortunate state, or someone who is miserable, heartbroken, or grief-stricken. How then could we help them with mercy, or bring help to them? It would seem to us that it would not be possible within our human means. Therefore, we would think that as the Spirit knows who is in that kind of wretched state, and leads us to encounter them, he would then express himself through us to show them mercy. Once again, if we were given this as a “gift” then we would need to go about looking for someone who is in this wretched state so we could show mercy. That just seems preposterous to even contemplate that would be the way the “gifts of the Spirit” operate. So then, we must come to the conclusion that the Spirit manifests or expresses himself within anyone at any time with any one or more of his expressions when it is needed for the common good. Therefore, as just one example, let us say the Spirit is expressing himself through someone to teach and in the course of that instruction time, there is a person within the sound of his voice that needs mercy,  and the Spirit moves through that one he is expressing teaching through to show mercy right there and then. Therefore, the very same Spirit is manifesting himself in several ways through the same person. Hence, we must leave all these expressions or gifts of the Spirit totally up to the Spirit and simply be open to his expressions in and through us, when it is needed for the common good.