Mercy

While everyone is running to see the Avengers movie, I’m watching Cobra Kai on Youtube. For those of you that have not heard of the show, Cobra Kai is the story of Daniel Larusso and Johnny Lawrence (from the original Karate Kid movie) as adults. The story follows Johnny Lawrence, the antagonist in the original movie, who becomes the protagonist in the first season and into the second. He begins to learn that you need to give mercy in this world, even though his former sensei teaches that mercy is for the weak, and that you never show mercy to your enemy. That’s how so many people view mercy, even Christians. It’s for the weak and you don’t show mercy to your enemy. If they show mercy to someone, then they believe that the other person wins. Do they though? Even if they do win, is life about winning and losing or is there something more to all of this?

Giving mercy is not about the other person. It’s about you. It reveals your true character. I heard a speaker at the Los Angeles Book Fair say that mercy was easy so she received to give it. That’s interesting. If it’s so easy, then do it. Mercy is not easy; it’s difficult to do, but the rewards are tremendous. Mercy is not deserved nor earned. Mercy is not for the weak. It is for the strong. If you cannot show mercy to your enemy, you continue to dwell on the act that they committed and you never move forward. You are stuck.

Being stuck in life gets you nowhere. You think you have conquered the issues with the other person, but in reality, you cannot let go of the incident or of the person receiving any success in life. That other person or group of people has moved on with their lives. They may feel bad that you refuse to give them mercy, but they don’t dwell on it. Some may not even think about it or care because they don’t know they did anything wrong. You, on the other hand, dwell on it.

If you were in the same room with the person you refuse to give mercy to, what would you do? Would you wish you had the karate moves to practice on that person? Would you tell them how horrible they are? Would you leave? You don’t have to be friends with them. You don’t have to see them. You don’t even have to acknowledge them. In order for you to become stronger, you have to fight for you. You have to be the bigger person because it is the only way you heal and move forward. You heal because you are the one who has the power. You no longer allow the other person to have power over you.

If what they did has caused harm and warrants criminal charges, it does not mean that a consequence is not given. It does mean that you no longer allow that person to control your emotions or thoughts. Take the power. Give mercy.

No one deserves mercy, yet God had mercy on us and sacrificed his Son for us. Every one of us has sinned against God and has broken our promises to Him and broken His heart. We so graciously receive God’s mercy and even praise God for it in our prayers and songs. We must do more. We must show mercy to others.

So, to those characters on that fictional television show, Cobra Kai, giving mercy is for the strong. The strong have power over someone because they can stand up when the other person is lying on the floor trying to kill. It’s not who wins or loses. It’s who can stand and be the person who refuses to allow anyone to have power over them. It’s the one who can rise up over others and show mercy. I try to work every day to show mercy in a world that wants no mercy. If it were easy, everyone would do it, but the best things in life don’t come because they are easy. They come with work, strength, mercy, and love.