In Matthew 5, the first four Beatitudes are about our relationship with God. Then, the next four are about our relationship with our fellow man – as well as God. In Matthew 5:7, Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
Mercy is a characteristic of those who are in God’s Kingdom. Many people act like Christians on the outside. They go to church, read the Bible sometimes, and even pray occassionally, but on the inside they are far from truly following God or even being close to the Kingdom of God.
Jesus spoke about those kind of people in Matthew 23:27, ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” It’s not about outward rituals or following certain traditions that make us true Christians. It’s what is on the INSIDE!
When our inside (hearts) are right, they will produce the right kind of actions on the outside. True Christianity will control our lives and will produce in us the right kind of actions – such as being merciful to others. How often do we beg God for mercy in our lives and yet turn around and refuse to show mercy to others? Well, guess what…it doesn’t work that way.
We can look at Jesus teaching this way. The first four Beatitudes are inner attitudes that change our lives and make us more like Jesus. And, in turn – they produce in us the last four attitudes which are visible by our actions toward others.
Jesus Christ was the most merciful human being who ever lived during His time on this earth. He went around showing mercy and love towards all people, and that is the life and example we are to follow. We should always be looking for opportunities to show the love of Jesus Christ to others by being merciful, and that is one of the actions that will prove to others our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine. Always thinking of others rather than ourselves.