Description

Definition
A mercy-giver feels genuine empathy for hurting people and responds with cheerful acts that relieve their suffering. Mercy implies a kind and forgiving disposition, treating others with compassion, and working to alleviate stress. It creates a desire to remove hurt and bring comfort to others, so it frequently involves both pity and kindness. Mercy often involves leniency, which includes reducing the severity or harshness of punishment. One of mercy’s characteristics is that the recipients not only appreciate the act, but their countenance and feelings improve. The emphasis of mercy is to make a hurting person feel better.
The parable of the good Samaritan describes a man who took pity on someone who had been attacked, dressed his wounds, and paid for his care. According to Luke 10:37, these were acts of mercy. The Bible shows the relationship between mercy and cheerfulness: “If a man’s gift . . . is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully” (Rom. 12:6, 8). It also states the Lord “is full of compassion and mercy” (James 5:11).
From these scriptures we see that mercy motivates you to care for the needy. To do so cheerfully means with gladness and liberality, without reluctance or grumbling. Real mercy focuses on action rather than words. Notice the emphasis of the scriptures quoted above is on action, not attitude.
Mercy is different from generosity. Mercy-givers may give generously, but they focus on making people feel better, not necessarily on managing their resources wisely. In contrast, generosity assesses people’s needs objectively and manages resources for greatest impact.
As one who gives mercy, your sense of pity for those who are hurting motivates you to perform kind acts, which not only improve the person’s condition but also their feelings. You have a great desire to help those who are hurting and you are sensitive to actions that can hurt others. This means you may get hurt, too. You probably have a strong emotional response to suffering, including your own, so you are likely to be drawn to those who are suffering or avoid discomfort, depending on your focus.
The primary purpose of mercy is to alleviate suffering where appropriate, not just make everyone feel good. God can use suffering to benefit a person, so if you automatically take away the suffering when God is doing this, the person does not benefit from it. Consider the Old Testament story of Joseph, the son of Israel. His brothers hated him and sold him into slavery. Potiphor’s wife tried to seduce him and then turned on him and he spent several years in prison. Other prisoners were released but forgot to vouch for him. What suffering!
However, God’s plan was to develop character in Joseph so he could fulfill his purpose in life: to save the nation of Israel. God works for our greater benefit, not just our momentary comfort or pleasure. Also, suffering is sometimes the natural consequence of a person’s actions, and causes them to regret their actions and want to change. This may occasionally take the form of punishment to bring correction. In such cases, you must recognize and accept the need for appropriate suffering, and delay your expressions of mercy until the proper time. God causes the combined effect of all a person’s experiences to benefit them, if they love Him and submit to His work in their life (see Rom. 8:28); this includes the pleasant experiences and the apparent tragedies.
You have compassion for the hurting and you patiently support people through their painful experiences. Others may recognize your compassion and take advantage of it, telling you of their needs in great detail, making you feel as if being compassionate is a problem. You may focus on the destitute or those generally considered undeserving. You are usually full of joy, even when working around great suffering. You are aware of people’s needs and eager to care for them. You can see past the person’s problems and value them as an individual. Usually you are patient and lenient toward people, and expect no repayment for your kindness because your reward is in giving mercy.
You may be very intuitive and make subjective decisions based largely on feelings. You likely are averse to problems and avoid making high-risk decisions or taking bold action. You do not enjoy problems, so you likely will procrastinate dealing with them or simply avoid them.

Typical Characteristics
● Usually patient and lenient toward people.
● Have a strong desire to help those who are hurting so they will feel better.
● Usually full of joy, even when working around great suffering.

Tendencies
● General Orientation: either extroverted or introverted. Your emphasis is on people and their needs. Mercy allows for a wide range of personalities, from the gregarious gusher who noisily pours compassion all over the needy person, to the introverted one who works quietly in the background.
● Perspective: positive. You generally are optimistic and cheerful, spreading joy wherever you go.
● Priorities:
● People. You are interested in people, their feelings and well-being.
● Emotions, feelings, pleasure. Your greatest interest is making people feel better. As a result, you are interested in people’s feelings, including your own.
● Issue Perception: subjective. Human feelings are very important.
● Orderliness: flexible. You respond to the feelings of the moment, which makes you spontaneous, unstructured, and maybe even undisciplined. For the same reason, you often procrastinate on less-pleasant tasks, then rely on a last-minute burst of emotional energy to meet the deadline.

Misunderstandings
Your warmth, kindness, and emotional responsiveness are easily misinterpreted by the opposite sex. To very structured people, you may appear irresponsible, due to your emphasis on feelings and your tendency to procrastinate.

Vocations and Roles
Social worker, nurse, pastor, and other positions that allow you to touch people who are hurting or troubled.

Perversions

Self-Centeredness
(Perverts your aptitude by focusing it on you, emphasizing the pleasure or fulfillment it gives you.)
Your concern for your own feelings can make feeling good a priority for you. It can make you reject the benefits and personal growth that come from facing difficult times in life.

Extremes
(Perverts by exaggerating, taking your characteristics and tendencies to extremes.)
In the extreme, you can become governed by your feelings and emotions. You might reject any form of discipline. You may become indulgent of yourself and others, unwilling to deny any desire. Your life may get out of balance due to the burdens you carry for others. You might even feel responsible for others’ problems, as if you were obligated to care for them.

Control
(Self-centeredness makes you want to be in control, and you struggle for control in a way that is unique to your character.)
When you perceive that someone is causing pain or unpleasantness, you might seize control by lashing out at them to make them stop. You might become a crusader or social activist, siding with a wronged person (as you perceive it) or taking up their cause. If you are introverted, you are more likely to withdraw in an unpleasant situation to protect your feelings.

Redemption

Putting on Important Traits
Certain godly character traits are especially important to you as a mercy-giver. Consciously developing the following traits will help you remove hurt and bring comfort to others.

● Humility (Considers self relatively unimportant compared to others; prevents using abilities for one’s own satisfaction.) Humility keeps you from focusing on your own feelings and becoming self-indulgent.
● Agape (Considers others’ welfare, needs, interests, and desires more important than your own; motivates you to act for others’ benefit regardless of personal impact.) Agape places high priority on others’ interests, desires, and feelings, and motivates you to act for their benefit despite your own feelings and desires.
● Joy (A sense of well-being, often despite circumstances; may be expressed as happiness, confidence, or optimism.) Your sense of well-being will transfer to those in need and help them overcome their feelings of despair and hopelessness.
● Kindness (Appropriate, mild, and pleasant behavior toward others; expressed in actions that meet another person’s need or desire.) Probably your strongest trait, it causes you to be considerate of others and do whatever is necessary to relieve their suffering.
● Faith or faithfulness (Firm conviction regarding something for which there is no proof; action based on such conviction.) When others succumb to the difficulty of their situations, your faith gives you the strength you need to alleviate their stress and suffering.
● Self-control (Restraint; temperance; moderation in thought, action, or feeling.) This helps you refrain from becoming involved with everybody’s needs as you allow God to direct your expressions of mercy. You also need self-control to keep from indulging your feelings.

Repentance, Renewing Your Mind
(The changes you need to make in the way you think, including your attitudes, standards, priorities, and perspective.)
You serve people by treating them with kindness, compassion, and appropriate leniency. You should emphasize actions that relieve suffering and stress where appropriate. However, if a person’s discomfort motivates them to change their behavior or helps them develop character, this eternal benefit is much more important than their momentary relief.

Denying and Humbling Yourself
(Rejecting your own desires and self-interests. Refusing to be motivated by desire for recognition or credit for the results.)
You may feel that mercy is always appropriate, in which case humbling yourself might include accepting that your way is not always the best. Your sensitivity often causes you to get hurt, so when this happens, you must avoid pacifying yourself to feel good again or hardening yourself to avoid future unpleasantness.

Taking up Your Cross
(Accepting that which has potential for great harm, threatens to break you down, or reveals your inadequacies.)
Involvement in others’ suffering is your calling, yet it can deplete your joy and faith. Accepting hardship in your own life is another form of taking up your own cross. Allow the experience to finish its work in you because it has a purpose.

Following Jesus
(How you uniquely imitate Jesus by doing what He would in your situation.)
Jesus frequently had pity and compassion on those who were suffering, and acted to relieve their distress. Yet at times He did not express mercy because it was not appropriate. He had an opportunity to show mercy to a rich young ruler, but instead forced the man to make a difficult decision, then accepted His poor choice. He showed no mercy to the religious leaders who mislead the people or abused their positions. He typically spent extended periods alone with God and these restored Him so He could continue showing mercy to those who were suffering.

Becoming Like a Child
(Accepting what God gives you, believing what He tells you, trusting Him to take care of you, and simply doing what He says.)
You can trust God to provide what you need so other people’s suffering will not adversely affect you. Rely on Him to show you when and how to give mercy. If He says not to in a particular case, trust Him to know what is best.