Comments on: Mercy is good

By: ByTheBlood

ByTheBlood — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:19:26 +0000

Great thoughts, Paul! I think we may have sat in the same service when we heard those words from a powerful and bellicose speaker. Those words sat a little funny with me, too. If I understand the heart of God, I believe that He wants us to always be in the attitude of “being willing to work on weak areas…” not that we’re going to create new “spiritual gifts” within ourselves, but to have a heart-attitude of humility to be willing to grow and stretch and have new sensitivities to areas of our personalities which need to be “sanded smooth.”

Just, whatever you do, DON’T ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU HOW TO BE MERCIFUL!!!

By: Jeff Bellinger

Jeff Bellinger — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:27:12 +0000

Right on the money Paul! I used to think the same way. I was very short on mercy early on in ministry. It was always easier to push your agenda and toss people out of the way who questioned anything I did. I just believed that people who opposed me were unhealthy. Yikes! Looking back I thank God for those who had mercy on me.
Mercy is an essencial quality to good leadership. A leader who lacks mercy is an immature leader.

By: Joni

Joni — Mon, 26 May 2008 20:42:11 +0000

As someone who once served UNDER a no mercy gift leader, Amen brother to this post. I’ll just stop there. So much more to rant about. But no need.

By: Glenn Keeler

Glenn Keeler — Mon, 26 May 2008 19:32:10 +0000

You are right, I think, that mercy needs to be in the leadership toolbox and that we probably too easily dismiss the need for mercy from leaders.

But there is a difference between being merciful and having the spiritual gift of mercy. In general, spiritual gifts are amplifications or special effectiveness in areas that should be part of every Christian’s life. For example, every Christian should be able to encourage others — but some are gifted in this area with special effectiveness. So mercy should be part of the leaders life, but the gift of mercy is not a necessary requirement for leadership.

Not that I want you to stop repenting! Those of us without the gift of mercy probably need to pay attention to being merciful more than those who do have the gift. Modeling that “working out of your salvation” is an act of discipleship and leadership.