Mercy toward me = Mercy toward others

Ever wonder how we should live in these difficult days?

Jude wrote to believers, warning them of the evil actions of false teachers that had appeared. He wrote as if he were in the last days - about 2000 years ago!

Among the instructions he gave for dealing with false teachers, he encourages mercy three times.

21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

"Wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." Anticipate the return of Christ, remembering that it's because of His mercy that we have eternal life. It's not because of anything that we have done or deserve. We can't really comprehend the vastness of His mercy in saving us. The full extent of the mercy of the Lord in saving us will be revealed when we meet Him in heaven.

While we're waiting for that revelation of mercy, we can be merciful to others.

"Be merciful to those who doubt." Come alongside a doubter. Answer his questions. Don't condemn, but show mercy. Remember that  we've been shown mercy way beyond what we deserve.

"To others show mercy, mixed with fear." Mercy may require more action than just answering questions. We may actually need to pull someone out of a life of sin. Our fear of the consequences of what will happen to them if they remain in their sin should move us toward a merciful rescue. Often we're more motivated by our fear of what they will think of us. We need to think more of the results of our lack of action. Remember the path that we had been on before Jesus in His mercy snatched us.

Because Jesus has shown mercy to me, I can be merciful to others. Because Jesus will reveal His mercy in the future, I can be showing mercy to others.