7) Mercy Showing Gift – Counselor 20%

Rom 12:8 "...he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."

The word mercy is eleos and means one that shows compassion. The mercy giver is one with the gift of being able to understand the suffering of others to the extent that they are nearly always compelled to help.

Matt 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Mark 10:46-47 And they came to Jericho. And as He was going out from Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, a blind beggar {named} Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. ⁴⁷ And when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Tabitha was a mercy giver.

Acts 9:36-39 Now in Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha (which translated {in Greek} is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity, which she continually did. ³⁷ And it came about at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room. ³⁸ And since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, entreating him, "Do not delay to come to us." ³⁹ And Peter arose and went with them. And when he had come, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him weeping, and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.

A good example of the mercy giver:

Luke 10:25-37 is a classic example of the mercy giver.
²⁵ And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" ²⁶ And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?" ²⁷ And he answered and said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." ²⁸ And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live." ²⁹ But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" ³⁰ Jesus replied and said, "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went off leaving him half dead. ³¹ "And by chance a certain priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² "And likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ "But a certain Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, ³⁴ and came to him, and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on {them;} and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ "And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.' ³⁶ "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' {hands?} ³⁷ And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."

The priest did not show mercy; the Levite did not show mercy; the Samaritan did show mercy. The one with the gift of mercy is empathetic, caring, responsive, kind, compassionate, sensitive and burden-bearing. The mercy giver cannot stand to see the suffering of others. They could not pass by the suffering person along the road and move into action. The mercy giver is the one that feels compassion (33) and moves to meet the need of alleviating the suffering.

The Philippian jailor was a mercy giver

Acts 16:29-34 And he called for lights and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas, ³⁰ and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" ³¹ And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household." ³² And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them that {very} hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his {household.} ³⁴ And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.

Paul and Silas were beaten and left in a cold jail cell. Their backs would have been raw from the public whipping earlier that day. The jailor was compelled to minister to the suffering of Paul and Silas even before responding to the gospel. Yes he was concerned about what he must do to be saved, but relieving the suffering of the mission team was equally high. We often fail to view the conversion of the jailor as a merciful-based conversion.

Signs of Maturity

Attitude
1. They are very forgiving to others.
2. They are very content.
3. They are very gentle in demeanor.
Attraction
1. They are magnets for the pitiful.
2. They are listeners for the neglected.
3. They are faithful in relationships.
Attentiveness
1. They reach out to the poor.
2. They reach out to the ill.
3. They reach out to the aged.
4. They reach out to the hurting.

Signs of Immaturity

Indecisive
1. They are often inconsistent in reactions.
2. They are often neglectful in corrections.
3. They are often doormats in relations.
4. They are often gullible in benevolence.
Emotional
1. They are prone to depression.
2. They are prone to sorrow.
3. They are prone to over-sensitivity.
Structure
1. They tend to be uninformed.
2. They tend to be unorganized.
3. They tend to be undisciplined.

Some ways to obtain joy with this gift

Focus on alleviating the pain and suffering of others.
Seek out and comfort the lonely and the forgotten in a congregation.
Start a ministry to help battered women or children.
Take a foreign mission trip to a poor country.
Start a letter-writing ministry to prisoners.
Spend time helping terminally ill patients and/or hospice.
Spend time in nursing homes and hospitals.
Work in a pregnancy center for troubled teens.
Get a job at a funeral home or be involved in a related ministry in the church.

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