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When I hear this week’s word mercy, I think of the Hebrew word hesed. It’s one of those words that we don’t really have an English equivalent for, but it’s often translated as mercy. Hesed can also be translated as faithfulness, loyalty, kindness, or goodness; the idea of it is all of those things wrapped up into one.

One verse where this word occurs is Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” The Hebrew word for “mercy” there is hesed. This verse tells us, among other things, that we should love mercy. But what exactly is mercy?

My dictionary of theological terms defines mercy as, “kind and compassionate treatment extending biblically to forgiveness and the gracious bestowal of that which is not deserved. It is an important descriptor of God’s character and activities.” God shows mercy to us, because we do not deserve His love but He loves us all anyway. He treats us with compassion and forgives us because He is merciful.

Do you show mercy to others? Are you kind and compassionate toward them, and forgiving them even when they don’t deserve it?

Check out what James 2:12-13 says: “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Did you catch that? You’ll be judged without mercy if you have not been merciful. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to be judged without mercy, because I’d be getting exactly what I deserve - eternal punishment, because I am a sinner. But, if we do show mercy, then God’s mercy will triumph over the judgment we deserve!

As God instructed us in Micah 6:8, we need to love mercy, which means being merciful to others. We need to show them hesed - mercy, faithfulness, loyalty, kindness, and goodness. We need to show God’s love, compassion, kindness, forgiveness to others all the time. It’s a tall order, but with God’s help we can move ever closer to showing His mercy to others.