Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. - Luke
6:36
My mother, who was a single parent in Singapore, employed a nanny to take care of us
children while she was at work. Only many years later did I realize how profoundly my
nanny had influenced my thinking and behavior. She used to tell us, "If people
treat you well, treat them better than they have treated you; but if they treat you badly,
treat them worse than they have treated you!"
For a long time, I did not even realize that I had been living according to this "tit
for tat" philosophy. It made me calculating in my response to kindness, and
vengeful in my response to unkindness.
So when I became a Christian, I found it difficult to obey Bible passages that tell us how
to treat others. I didn't like the command to "be merciful, just as your Father
also is merciful" (Luke 6:36) because I had the wrong focus. I was always looking
at what others had done or were likely to do to me, instead of what God had done and
continues to do for me. My real problem was forgetting how merciful God was to me - and it
showed in the way I responded to people.
We all need to remember that we don't deserve God's mercy. Then we can be merciful to
others - no matter how they treat us.
-AL
When wronged by those who wish us harm,
Lord, teach us what to say;
Help us respond with Christlike love -
With good their deeds repay.
-Bosch
When offended, don't respond in kind; respond with kindness.