Blessed are the Merciful

Because mercy and forgiveness position us to have to absorb the cost of the debt that somebody's offense against us incurs, it’s not seen as contributing to our happiness and self-interest. So we respond in merciless ways, thinking retaliation will restore wholeness to our life again. But that is self-defeating and has the opposite effect of what we intend. Retaliation and unforgivingness only weakens and breaks relationships, and slowly erodes society. Whether in marriage, families, friendships, churches, workplaces, or politics, mercy and forgiveness is counterintuitive to our basic human instincts. So how do we become merciful and generously forgiving?