Does a merciful God show mercy to those who don't show mercy?

What is true mercy?

Jesus, the Son of God shared a very important parable in the Gospel of Luke to teach us what true mercy is and its importance. Continue read on for more details.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:32-36).

Mercy - From God's point of view

Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew 5:7,

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy"

To make it clearer Jesus told them this parable of an unmerciful servant. Let me quote.

Matthew 18:21-35

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"

Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-times seven."

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him.

'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him,

'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in.

'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'

"In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

So, how do we respond to those who beg mercy from us?

We should apply this same principle in our daily lives to those who beg for mercy or forgiveness from us.

If we sincerely have a holy fear of God and are willing to obey His commandments, then God will help us to show mercy to those who beg for mercy from us through our actions and from our hearts.

In many cases, it is impossible for us to show mercy to others who are unmerciful to us. But with God's help we will be able to do so. You may be asking, "How could I get help from God to show mercy to those who are unmerciful to me?"

God has sent His Holy Spirit to help us to do that. When we sincerely receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, immediately God will give us the Holy Spirit to come to live in our lives forever and when we allow Him to be the Lord of our lives He will help us do all things that He commands us to do including showing mercy even to the unmerciful towards us.