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Have you ever read the beatitudes and wondered how they related to your life? Consider this one from Matthew 5:7:
Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.
Mercy is love given when it is not deserved: Forgiveness not earned. Mercy is “full of pity.” The merciful are those that are tender hearted and who truly feel the pain and suffering of those who need mercy. They go out of their way and make the effort to help others.
In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Paul writes: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” That is a good description of what it means to be merciful. We show mercy to others because God has shown us mercy, when we were miserable, helpless and totally undeserving. And we should be merciful because we still need God’s mercy every day.
Another beatitude tells us that
Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God (Matthew 5:8).
Purity of heart would include a pure lifestyle; pure motives; pure attitudes. This is something to pray into your life. It is a process—you grow more and more like Jesus and that makes your heart more and more pure. And that then gives you the forever eyes you need to see God—to know him and see his hand in every part of your life. And of course, in eternity we will see Jesus face to face.
In Ezekiel we read: ‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). That’s what occurs when we are born again into God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit empowers us to have a pure heart and get rid of that old heart of stone. Truly, living like that is blessed—is happy and joyful.