The spiritual gift of mercy is a special ability given by the Holy Spirit to individuals within the church. When the gift of mercy is present in the church, it fosters an atmosphere of love and care, where individuals find solace and understanding during difficult times.
Individuals with the gift of mercy have a sensitive and tender heart, easily moved by the pain and struggles of others. They have a sincere desire to help people and the ability to sympathize and empathize with people, often putting themselves “in the other person’s shoes.”
Defining Mercy
Mercy is what we express when we are led by God to be compassionate in our attitudes, words, and actions. It is more than feeling sympathy toward someone; it is love enacted. Mercy desires to answer the immediate needs of others and alleviate suffering, loneliness, and grief. Mercy addresses physical, emotional, financial, or spiritual crises with generous, self-sacrificial service.
The Greek word eleos means to feel sympathy with or for others. People with this gift are comforters who enter into the grief or happiness of others, having the ability to show empathy. To show empathy goes beyond sympathy. Sympathy feels for others, empathy feels with others.
Empathizers emotionally go through what the victim goes through. They minister to the sick, the poor, the mentally challenged, the prisoners, the blind, the aged, the homeless, etc. They are willing to deal with people and minister to these people who have needs that most other people feel very uncomfortable working with.
Read also: Interpreting Blood Dreams
Scriptural Basis for Mercy
In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, one of the Beatitudes is “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7). A good example of mercy is found in Matthew 20:29-34:
“As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’ The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’ Jesus stopped and called them. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked. ‘Lord,’ they answered, ‘we want our sight.’ Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed Him.”
Notice that the blind men associated mercy not with a feeling but with an action. Their physical problem was that they couldn’t see, so to them, the act of mercy was Christ’s intervention to restore their sight.
This gift has a practical application of active service as well as a responsibility to do so cheerfully (Romans 12:8). Additionally, we are all called to be merciful. Jesus says in Matthew 25:40 that “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.” As spiritually dead and blind sinners, we are no better off than the two blind men in Matthew 20. Just as they were utterly dependent on Christ’s compassion to restore their sight, so are we dependent on Him to “show us His mercy and grant us His salvation” (Psalm 85:7).
We’re to be merciful towards others because God has first been merciful towards us. As we also read in Scripture…
Read also: Decoding Common Dreams
Psalm 103:8 ESV The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Psalm 145:8-9 ESV The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.
Possibly the greatest display of God’s mercy is seen when… John 11:35 ESV Jesus wept.
We worship a merciful God - thus we’re to be people who are known for our mercy.
Read also: Understanding Angel Number 3
Discover Your Unique Psychic Abilities With This Simple Test | Carrie Konyha
Characteristics of Individuals with the Gift of Mercy
People with the gift of mercy often exhibit several key characteristics:
- Looks for the good in people: They tend to be non-critical (Jude 23).
- Senses the spiritual and emotional atmosphere of a group: (Philemon 7).
- Attracted to people who are hurting or in distress: (1 John 3:19-20).
- Wants to remove hurts and relieve distress: (1 John 3:19-20).
- Motivated to help people to have right relationships with one another: (1 John 2:9-11).
- Loves opportunities to give place to others: (Romans 12:8).
- Careful with words and actions to avoid hurting others: (1 John 2:1).
- Easily detects insincerity in others: (1 John 2:4).
- Drawn to others with the gift of mercy.
- Thoughtful.
- Loves to do things for others.
- Remembers special occasions: (1 John 3:18).
- Trusting.
Examples of Mercy in Scripture
The Apostle John is a great example of someone in the Bible who had the gift of mercy. When Jesus was dying on the cross, he looked to John and asked him to take care of his mother, Mary. Jesus must have seen the gift of mercy in John.
Another example is found in Luke 10:33-37:
But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
Potential Challenges for Individuals with the Gift of Mercy
Mercy-Showers must build some barriers on their feelings and establish strong biblical principles to prevent Satan from using the gift as a stumbling block before the Holy Spirit can use it as a stepping stone.
Mercy-givers can easily allow others to become dependent on them, when the individuals should be dependent on God. Because mercy-givers try to avoid conflict of any kind, they often avoid confrontation that is needed.
It is easy for mercies to develop a poor self-image, since they tend to be introspective and remain acutely aware of their own failures.
The Gift of Mercy and the Church
Yet - we want to better understand how the spiritual gift of mercy is a benefit to us as a local church. So let’s look at a few examples of this gift in Scripture. But - before we do so - I want to share a quote on mercy that I think paints a clear and compelling picture as to why this gift is so vital to our life as a faith family. Here’s the quote:
Mercy means to be led by God to be compassionate in our attitudes, words and actions. It is more than feeling sympathy towards someone; it is love enacted. Mercy desires to answer the immediate needs of others and alleviate suffering, loneliness, and grief. Mercy addresses physical, emotional, financial or spiritual crises with generous, self-sacrificial service. Mercy is a champion of the lowly, poor, exploited, and forgotten, and often acts on their behalf.
We’ve seen how mercy is something that all Christians are to live out - yet - for some among us - because of the Spirit’s empowering presence in you - you’ve been gifted with mercy in a way where you can’t help but desire to meet the immediate needs of others, to alleviate their suffering, loneliness, or grief. You can’t help it - it’s like you’re compelled - to serve those who are poor, exploited, or forgotten by others. What a needed and necessary gift if we want to be the church that Jesus gave his life for us to be.
The Gift of Mercy in Scripture: Deacons
John Owen - a pastor who lived in the 17th century - wrote, “Mercy has to do with man's misery.” Historically - in the church - the people who have been known as ministers - or servants - of mercy - whose ministry is often called “mercy ministry” - are the deacons.
Deacons first appear on the scene in Acts chapter 6. The church had grown quite quickly and Christians - of both Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds - were all figuring out how to follow Jesus together. But they were still dealing with cultural hangups - like we all do - resulting in some of the widows in the church not having their needs met.
So the apostles - the key leaders in the church at this time - told the people to select individuals who would make sure the widows' needs were met. Because - not having what you daily need to survive - is a recipe for misery.
Seven individuals were selected and they are the first deacons - or ministers of mercy - in the church. And their important ministry of mercy continues today.
Here at Gateway we have 15 individuals - men and women - who serve as our deacons. To ensure that everything they’re responsible for is covered - they’ve divided themselves up into four teams.
One of those is the Benevolence team which oversees the distribution of benevolence funds to those within our church family who are in need of financial assistance. Priority for assistance is given to church members - specifically those who are sick, handicapped, single parents, or elderly - though other members or active regular attenders may also be assisted through the fund. This is definitely a ministry of mercy.
There’s the Service team which helps with meeting a variety of hands-on, physical needs within our church family. These needs include setting up Kidway spaces each weekend, shoveling church entrances on a Sunday morning, and providing building access for a variety of events held at the church. Additionally, they handle requests for physical help such as yard work, help moving, or light construction work for people in need. There are definitely times when this team does acts of mercy.
Finally, there’s the Food team which is responsible for a variety of food needs within the church. These include funeral meals, as well as food and snacks for volunteer training and church or outreach events. One of our deacons also oversees our Meals Ministry, which comes alongside Life Groups to provide meals to people after a new baby is born, or someone has surgery, when there’s a death in the family, and so on. Again - many times when this is a ministry of mercy.
Suggested Potential Strengths & Characteristics of this Gift
Consider the suggested potential strengths and characteristics associated with the gift of mercy:
| Characteristic | Description |
|---|---|
| Looks for the good in people | Non-critical (Jude 23) |
| Senses the spiritual and emotional atmosphere of a group | (Philemon 7) |
| Attracted to people who are hurting or in distress | (1 John 3:19-20) |
| Wants to remove hurts and relieve distress | (1 John 3:19-20) |
| Motivated to help people to have right relationships with one another | (1 John 2:9-11) |
| Loves opportunities to give place to others | (Romans 12:8) |
| Careful with words and actions to avoid hurting others | (1 John 2:1) |
| Easily detects insincerity in others | (1 John 2:4) |
| Drawn to others with the gift of mercy | |
| Thoughtful | |
| Loves to do things for others | |
| Remembers special occasions | (1 John 3:18) |
| Trusting |