Blessed Are the Merciful

Forgiveness and mercy — Reconciliation — The value of repairing conflicts before religious practice — Judging others — Understanding — When to correct, when to remain silent, and when to warn about something harmful.

Forgive so that God may forgive you

1. Jesus said: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)

2. Jesus teaches that if we want forgiveness for our own mistakes, we also need to learn to forgive the offenses we receive. (Matthew 6:14-15)

Matthew 6:14-15

3. Jesus advises first speaking privately with someone who has done wrong instead of immediately turning the conflict into public exposure. When Peter asks how many times he should forgive, Jesus answers “seventy times seven,” a way of saying that forgiveness should not be counted as though it had a fixed limit. (Matthew 18:15,21-22)

4. Mercy is connected with gentleness and peace. Holding resentment for a long time keeps a person tied to the offense. Forgiving does not mean pretending nothing happened or accepting further abuse; it means working so that hatred and the desire for revenge stop controlling our life.

When Jesus speaks of forgiving many times, the message reminds us that we all also make mistakes and need understanding. Whoever demands mercy for themselves but completely refuses to offer it to others is applying two different standards.

There is sincere forgiveness and there is “forgiveness” used to humiliate. Truly forgiving is not forcing the other person to kneel, constantly reminding them of the debt, or displaying to everyone how generous we were.

Reconciliation will hardly be genuine when forgiveness becomes an instrument of pride. In conflicts, the most conciliatory attitude is the one that seeks to resolve the problem without increasing humiliation, hostility, or the dispute over who appears to have won.

Reconcile with opponents

5. Jesus recommends seeking reconciliation with an opponent while there is still an opportunity, before the conflict worsens and produces greater consequences. (Matthew 5:25-26)

Matthew 5:25-26

6. In the Spiritist view, death does not automatically end feelings of resentment. Spirits who remain attached to hatred could continue conflicts after death. For this reason, the work also gives forgiveness a meaning of spiritual liberation.

Kardec relates some cases of spiritual obsession to old conflicts between people. This is a Spiritist doctrinal explanation. Health problems, psychological suffering, or violence should not automatically be diagnosed as obsession and need care appropriate to the situation.

The work interprets certain difficult reunions as opportunities to repair mistakes, develop understanding, and abandon old feelings of revenge.

For this reason, it recommends correcting as soon as possible what we have done against someone and working on forgiveness for offenses received. Resolving a conflict now can prevent it from being fed for years and, in the Spiritist view, even beyond the present life.

Jesus' recommendation to reconcile quickly is therefore understood as a way to interrupt cycles of hostility. Some consequences do not disappear merely because we wish to forget them; they need to be repaired and transformed.

The sacrifice most pleasing to God

7. Jesus teaches: if you are about to present an offering to God and remember a serious conflict with someone, first seek reconciliation and then return to your religious practice. (Matthew 5:23-24)

8. The teaching places human relationships above religious appearance. Before asking God for forgiveness, we should work to forgive and, when we were responsible for harm, seek to repair what we did.

In Jesus' time, an offering at the altar was part of religious practice. For Christians today, the idea remains valid: prayer and worship do not replace the need to correct injustice, abandon hatred, and treat people with dignity.

A prayer for reconciliation gains more meaning when accompanied by concrete actions. Asking God should go together with the effort to live what is being asked.

The speck and the large beam in the eye

9. Jesus asks: why see the small speck in another person's eye and ignore the large beam in your own? Before correcting someone, first look at your own faults. (Matthew 7:3-5)

Matthew 7:3-5

10. It is common to quickly notice other people's mistakes and have difficulty recognizing our own. A useful exercise is to imagine that we are observing our behavior in another person and ask: would I consider this attitude right if it were not mine?

True charity does not fit with a constant need to prove superiority. Someone who needs to diminish others to feel better is still acting from pride.

Kardec sees pride as the origin of many harmful behaviors and as an obstacle to the development of various virtues. For this reason, the struggle against pride appears repeatedly in Gospel teachings.

Do not judge so that you will not be judged

Let the one without sin cast the first stone

11. “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. The measure you use for others will also be used for you.” (Matthew 7:1-2)

12. The scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery and placed her before the crowd. They said that the Law of Moses commanded that adulterers be stoned and asked Jesus what he thought, intending to test him. Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground.

As they continued questioning him, he stood and said: “Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone at her.” Then he bent down again. One by one they left, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus and the woman remained. Jesus asked her where her accusers were and whether anyone had condemned her. She answered that no one had.

Jesus said to her: “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” (John

8:3-11)

13. “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.” Before condemning someone harshly, we should remember that we too need understanding. It makes no sense to excuse in ourselves the same behavior that we condemn without mercy in others.

Criticizing an action can have two very different goals: preventing harm or destroying a person's reputation. The second comes from malice or pleasure in exposing someone. The first may be necessary when it genuinely protects someone or helps correct a situation.

For this reason, “do not judge” does not mean ignoring abuse, crimes, or injustice. Jesus also denounced harmful behavior. The care lies in not using correction as an excuse for arrogance, revenge, or hypocrisy.

Someone in a position of responsibility loses moral authority when they practice exactly what they demand that others avoid. Example gives strength to guidance; inconsistency weakens trust.

Instructions from the Spirits

Forgiveness of offenses

Simeon - Bordeaux, 1862

14. Jesus' answer to Peter — forgive “seventy times seven” — is an invitation not to turn mercy into a count. The Lord's Prayer brings the same idea when it asks forgiveness to the extent that we also learn to forgive.

Forgiving repeatedly does not mean remaining in a situation of abuse or abandoning necessary limits. It means not living dominated by revenge and seeking to treat others with the same mercy we hope to receive when we make mistakes.

Before counting other people's errors, remember how many times you also needed to be understood and forgiven.

The message asks for generosity in forgiveness, understanding, and love. Humility and mercy are presented as paths toward closeness to God.

The greater the offense, the more difficult the process of forgiveness may be. This does not make the pain small or demand immediate reconciliation. The merit lies in working so that the wound does not become permanent hatred.

Forgiveness should not be only a religious word. The message proposes real change: reduce resentment, stop feeding fantasies of revenge, and focus energy on the good we can still do.

A good question at the end of the day is: am I holding resentment against someone that I can begin to work on?

Paul, apostle - Lyon, 1861

15. Paul reinforces the same idea: whoever wants understanding for their own errors should avoid becoming excessively harsh toward the mistakes of others.

In many conflicts, it is worth asking whether we also contributed to the situation: an aggressive word, lack of listening, or an impulsive response may have enlarged something that began small.

Even when the other person made the first mistake, we can worsen the conflict through retaliation. And when we truly had no part in the error, choosing a balanced response may require even greater inner strength.

There is a difference between saying “I forgive” and actually working on resentment. Sometimes a person declares forgiveness but continues wishing suffering on the other person. Inner change is usually a process, not an instant sentence.

True forgiveness appears mainly in attitudes. It does not require erasing memory or returning to an unsafe relationship, but it seeks to remove from memory the desire for revenge and the need to see the other person destroyed.

Understanding

Joseph, Protective Spirit - Bordeaux, 1863

16. Understanding avoids turning other people's faults into material for exposure and gossip. When it notices a mistake, it first seeks to understand the context and prevent it from spreading unnecessarily.

This does not mean hiding situations that put people at risk. When intervention is really necessary, it should have a useful purpose and cause as little humiliation as possible. Advice and protection are different from ridicule.

Before looking severely at others, also examine your own conduct. Be demanding about your own responsibility and careful with the vulnerability of others.

Our judgment is limited because we do not fully know another person's intentions, history, and inner struggles. In the religious view of the message, only God would have complete knowledge for perfect judgment.

Understanding brings people closer and makes change easier; unnecessary harshness often pushes them away and increases resistance.

John, Bishop of Bordeaux, 1862

17. Be understanding toward other people's imperfections and more attentive to your own. Support those who are doing well, encourage those who are trying, and help those who still struggle, without turning moral superiority into a reason for pride.

Show everyone the image of sincere repentance covering human faults with compassion, so that they are not exposed unnecessarily to those who cannot see beyond impurity. Understand the infinite mercy of the Father and never forget to say, especially through your actions: “Forgive our offenses as we forgive those who have offended us.” The value lies not only in the words but in the teaching they carry.

What do you ask the Lord when you ask forgiveness? Not simply that your faults be forgotten, because forgetting alone would not create moral progress. Forgiveness, in the message's view, is connected with the opportunity to change and develop the good that has not yet been done.

When asking forgiveness for your faults, ask also for strength not to repeat them and for the ability to enter a new path of responsibility and love, adding reparation to repentance. When forgiving others, do not merely cover their faults with silence while continuing to hate. Add love to forgiveness and try to offer others the mercy you ask from God.

Replace anger that stains with love that purifies. Teach this active and tireless charity by example, as Jesus taught it through his life. Follow that model and let it guide you toward the inner peace that comes from living the good.

Like Jesus, carry your cross and climb your difficult path with courage; the image points to spiritual growth after the struggle.

Dufêtre, Bishop of Nevers - Bordeaux

18. Dear friends, be demanding with yourselves and understanding toward the weakness of others; this too is a form of charity that very few people observe. All of you have harmful tendencies to overcome, faults to correct, and habits to change. Everyone has a burden to lighten while climbing the mountain of progress. Why, then, see so clearly when it comes to your neighbor and so poorly when it comes to yourselves?

The teaching of the speck and the beam returns here: whoever considers themselves much better than others risks failing to notice their own faults. Humility begins by recognizing that everyone still has something to learn.

Charity and humility also seek to see what is good in each person. No one should be reduced to their worst mistake. Even someone with many faults may retain qualities that can be strengthened.

The final guidance is to practice charity in actions and intentions: toward others and also toward oneself. In the message, loving God and practicing charity are inseparable duties.

Is it right to reprimand someone? To notice their faults? To make public something wrong they did?

19. If no one is perfect, does that mean no one can correct another person?

Saint Louis answers that correction may be necessary, especially when we have a responsibility to guide someone. But the purpose must be to help, not humiliate. Before pointing out a fault, we should also ask whether we practice what we are demanding.

Saint Louis - Paris, 1860

20. Noticing an imperfection is not wrong in itself. We need to recognize problems in order to learn and protect people. The error lies in using that perception to discredit someone unnecessarily or to take pleasure in their fall.

Observing mistakes can also serve our own learning: what we criticize in others can help us recognize behaviors we do not want to repeat. Intention and how we use the observation make all the difference.

Saint Louis - Paris, 1860

21. There are situations in which revealing harmful behavior is necessary to protect other people. If the problem affects only the person who practices it, public exposure may be useless and cruel. But in cases of fraud, abuse, or real risk to others, warning may be a duty. The decision should consider protection, truth, proportionality, and the least possible harm.