Better Than Sacrifice, Yielding Our Heart to GodSample

Mercy is better than sacrifice

Again, we are looking at God’s lovely character. In the last lesson, it was God’s love. Here we see that our God is merciful. In Hebrew this name of God is ‘El Rachum’. We see it in Deuteronomy 4:31, “For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath”.

In Hosea 6:6 God says, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” Mercy or compassion can be described as kindness – not giving people what they deserve, but better than they deserve. God does this for us all the time. In fact, if we got what we deserve, we would all be dead.

In Luke 19:10 Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." God’s aim is to always do us good – to give us far better and far more than we deserve. He longs for us to embrace His mercy and show it to those around us. In Matthew 12:7, He quoted Hosea 6:6, saying, “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.”

We love mercy for ourselves but tend to want justice and judgment for others. In Matthew 9:13, Jesus quoted this same scripture – but commented another way, “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Of course, Jesus loves the righteous – but we can only be righteous in Him. On our own, none of us are righteous.

Jesus wanted nothing to do with those who arrogantly thought they could earn righteousness; rejecting their need for being saved from their sin, because their outward deeds of giving, praying and fasting were so self-serving (Matthew 6:1-18). That’s why He said “I have come to call the sinners,” those who know they have no goodness or righteousness in themselves and want to be transformed by His mercy.

Reflection: Mercy, kindness, and compassion can describe our lives if we embrace Jesus Christ and let His Holy Spirit reign in us.