Blessed Are the Merciful - Humility That Extends Grace: The Beatitudes Part 5

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” — Matthew 5:7

What does it mean to live a life marked by mercy? In The Blessing of Humility, Jerry Bridges explores this powerful question through the lens of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:7: “Blessed are the merciful.” At first glance, the concept seems simple—be kind, be forgiving. But mercy is more than a soft disposition or random acts of compassion. It is a deliberate choice rooted in humility, sustained by grace, and shaped by the awareness of our own deep need for God’s forgiveness.

What Is Mercy?

Bridges defines mercy as both compassion toward those who are suffering and forgiveness toward those who have wronged us. It encompasses both sympathy and self-restraint—feeling for others in their distress, and releasing others from what they may deserve. But this mercy is not merely natural kindness. True mercy, the kind Jesus blesses, flows from hearts humbled by grace.

In other words, to be merciful is to look upon someone’s pain or failure and say, “That could be me.” It’s to stop viewing others through a lens of judgment and begin seeing them through the lens of our own need for God’s compassion.

The Humble Know Their Need

One of Bridges’ key insights is that humility and mercy are intimately linked. The proud heart withholds mercy because it sees itself as superior: “I would never do what they did.” The humble heart, however, recognizes the depths of its own sin and the undeserved mercy it has received from God. Because of that, it’s willing—even eager—to extend mercy to others.

This is what makes mercy a marker of humility. It says, “I’ve been there. I’ve needed grace. I still do.” It doesn’t excuse sin, but it offers forgiveness rather than punishment. It doesn’t ignore pain, but it moves toward the wounded rather than retreating into indifference.

Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 18 about a servant who was forgiven an enormous debt by his master, only to turn around and violently demand repayment from a fellow servant who owed him a much smaller amount. The point is painfully clear: those who do not show mercy reveal that they have not truly grasped the mercy they’ve received. Bridges emphasizes that if we’re stingy with forgiveness or quick to judge, it may be a sign that our understanding of grace is more theoretical than transformative.

Mercy Toward the Hurting

One expression of mercy is compassion for the suffering. Bridges encourages readers to ask themselves: when we see others in distress—whether from poverty, illness, injustice, or emotional pain—do we turn away, or do we move toward them? Mercy does not stop at awareness; it moves to action.

Merciful people take time to care. They listen, they serve, they help carry burdens. Sometimes mercy is as practical as preparing a meal or paying a bill. Other times, it’s as emotional as entering someone’s grief with them, without rushing to fix it. The merciful don’t see suffering as an inconvenience to be avoided—they see it as an opportunity to reflect God’s heart.

Mercy Toward the Guilty

Another expression of mercy—and often the more difficult one—is forgiveness. This kind of mercy is not easy. It often feels unnatural. When we’ve been wronged, everything in us cries out for justice, fairness, or even revenge. But mercy takes a different path. It chooses to release the offense, trusting God to be the ultimate judge.

Bridges is careful to clarify: showing mercy doesn’t mean ignoring sin or enabling harm. But it does mean letting go of bitterness and entrusting our pain to the God who forgives us endlessly. Forgiveness is not a feeling—it’s an act of the will, born out of gratitude for the mercy we’ve received in Christ.

The humble heart doesn’t minimize the pain of being wronged. But it also doesn’t cling to it. Instead, it says, “I know how much I’ve been forgiven—I can choose to forgive as well.”

The Blessing of Mercy

Jesus’ promise is clear: “They shall receive mercy.” This isn’t suggesting a transactional relationship with God, where mercy is earned by being merciful. Rather, it reveals a spiritual principle: those who truly understand and cherish the mercy they’ve received will naturally extend it to others—and in doing so, will experience God’s mercy afresh.

Bridges points out that showing mercy actually keeps our hearts soft toward God. As we reflect His compassion and forgiveness to others, we deepen our dependence on Him. The merciful not only bless others—they are blessed themselves, experiencing the joy and peace that come from living in line with God’s heart.

Cultivating a Merciful Heart

Mercy doesn’t come naturally to most of us. It requires a heart regularly softened by grace and a mind constantly reminded of our need for the gospel. Bridges encourages believers to cultivate mercy by:

• Meditating on the mercy of God in Scripture.
• Confessing our own sin regularly, to remain tender-hearted.
• Looking for opportunities to serve the hurting and forgive the guilty.
• Asking the Holy Spirit to empower a merciful posture toward others.

Mercy is not weakness. It’s not naivety. It’s the strong, Spirit-enabled response of a soul that knows its own need and revels in God’s extravagant grace.

Conclusion: Mercy as the Overflow of Humility

To be merciful is to live humbly before God and generously before others. It is to say, “I didn’t earn the mercy I’ve received, so I won’t demand that others earn it from me.” The more deeply we drink from the well of God’s grace, the more freely we will extend it.

Blessed are the merciful—not because they’ve figured it out, but because they know they haven’t. And in that humility, they find both the power to forgive and the peace of being forgiven.

Inspired by Jerry Bridges, The Blessing of Humility