“Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again.” (Alma 41:14). In this verse, Alma teaches us the three pillars of being merciful to our brothers and sisters - deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually. There is often a tension between justice and mercy but it is fairly clear that, at a bare minimum, we must treat someone fairly and justly if we intend to treat them with mercy. Mercy often requires more than fairness but before we can move on to the rest, we have to decide that we will at least deal justly with each other. The second element of being merciful is righteous judgment. Judgment seems like the exact opposite of mercy, but it doesn't have to be. Righteous judgment can mean the difference between providing an act of mercy that courageously empowers someone in their pursuit of self improvement on the one hand and merely succumbing to a shallow need to be liked and appear tolerant by enabling some poor, wretched soul in their path towards self-destruction. It is a mercy to ourselves and others to judge righteously when someone not only needs but wants and will accept our help instead of just willfully sucking us down into their Gulf of misery and endless woe. This brings us to the third aspect of being merciful. To do good continually does not mean that we must be scheduling random acts of kindness every second of every day. Rather, it means that we must operate in our homes and our communities and the world at large in such a way that will allow goodness to propagate and flourish continually. It means we don't sacrifice long-term stability for short term gains. It means helping our neighbor get back up on their feet so that when life knocks us down, they might be in a position to pick us up. Mercy is a gift from God. It lifts our spirits and lightens our hearts and heals our wounds. It makes up for all that is unjust, turns all things evil eventually into good, and lays out a vision of hope and joy and salvation for each of us. If we want this gift in our life more abundantly, then we must deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually.
