"I want to be rich".

Sometime ago, one of my friend’s husband had several conversations with his children about what they could be later on in life. It was however very revealing the reply he received   when he asked his seven year old daughter recently what she would like to be in future. She simply replied “I want to be rich”. We all reeled out in laughter.

Sadly there is a tendency to always attribute the word “rich” to finances. However there are other dictionary definitions of rich such as:  “abounding”, “having an abundant supply”, “of great value or worth” and “valuable”. This means that we can all be rich. The Bible encourages us to be rich in several things which include being rich in the word of God (Colossians 3:16), rich towards God (Luke 12:21) ,rich in  God’s work(1 Corinthians 15:58) and good works (1 Timothy 6:18).These latter two involves showing mercy. 

But having a spirit that is rich in mercy is not automatic and requires effort. It flows from allowing ourselves to be recipients of the mercy of God as a result of his love .This is usually not very easy as it requires a certain amount of vulnerability.(Ephesians 2:4 ).We need to be vulnerable enough to admit that we sometimes fall short and would honestly prefer not to receive all that we deserve.  The more aware we are of the mercy of God we receive, the easier it will be for is to show mercy and the more mercy we show, the more mercy we will be shown (Matthew 5:7 ) .

Have you ever met someone who is rich in mercy? It is usually characterised by a very generous and forgiving spirit. There is a way this type of generosity of spirit spills   into spoken words. Words also portray the allowances we make for others and depict how much of their motives we have erroneously attributed to their actions.  If we are almost always criticizing or condemning, then it might be that we are not rich in mercy .This does not mean there is not a place for confronting (Proverbs 27:5) and talking about issues but more times than not, if we would be honest, we are more apt to correct because of our own ego and not necessarily for the good of another .Being rich in mercy allows some wrongs to be overlooked (Proverbs 17:9).

God wants us to be rich in mercy and rightly so because he is the father of mercies and we are his children (2 Corinthians 1:3).He wants our lives to be a proof of his mercy. We will glorify God on a daily basis by being and striving to be rich in mercy.

Yours in Him,

Grace Tom-Lawyer