Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Matthew 5:6-7

For Encouragement

Have you ever thought of hunger and mercy as twin attributes of the inner life? That is what Calvin Miller espouses. “To be hungry is to desire righteousness. To be merciful is to be Christlike. Christ serves these appetites flawlessly,” he writes.

When you hunger after righteousness, you reveal an appetite to be right with God. And when you show mercy to others, you open the heart of God to your fellow human being. That makes you valuable to them. How true that is!

The heart of God is merciful and kind, and as our hunger to get right with Him increases, we become more inclined to care about people. This idea opens up so well, Jesus’s response to the teacher who asked to know what the most important law is (Mk. 12:30-31).

When we seek after righteousness, we show our sincere love for God. Love desires the presence and closeness to its lover with its entire constitution. How can we love God without our heart, soul, mind, and strength (30)? And because love is infectious, it embraces everyone, even if it is an enemy. Our love for our neighbors reveals our love for God (31).

In the Beatitudes, Jesus pronounces a blessing on those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And happy are we when, out of love, we cultivate a heart of compassion for people, for He will show His mercy to us too (Matt. 5:6-7).

A golden truth to delight your heart for the weekend!