Why we don't deserve God's mercy?

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ANV

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Many on here are saying that we don’t deserve God’s mercy no matter how good we are or we try to be, why is it like this when we didn’t choose to born and when we didn’t choose to take a human form and nature to be judged of not deserving God’s mercy for having it?
 
‘deserve’ is something that is earned.

Mercy is something that is only freely given, a gift.

It’s a logical fallacy to say ‘deserves a gift’.
 
That’s one of the key concepts of Catholicism! Excellent work Paduana (a female paduan). God’s mercy is freely dispersed. It is NOT earned. We only need be open to it. You literally cannot do something he will not forgive (don’t let anyone tell you differently!) All you need be is open to His mercy.
 
ANV said:
Many on here are saying that we don’t deserve God’s mercy no matter how good we are or we try to be, why is it like this when we didn’t choose to born and when we didn’t choose to take a human form and nature to be judged of not deserving God’s mercy for having it?
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Because mercy is a gift. And because we’re sinners.
 
ANV said:
Many on here are saying that we don’t deserve God’s mercy no matter how good we are or we try to be, why is it like this when we didn’t choose to born and when we didn’t choose to take a human form and nature to be judged of not deserving God’s mercy for having it?
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@ANV:

Mercy means “to take a person’s misery away”.

We don’t deserve (read: earn) God’s mercy because God is infinite and infinitely fulfilled in every way, therefore it is impossible to set up with him an exchange of goods in the way we can exchange goods and/or services with each other. I might be hungry and you might be thirsty, so I give you a glass of water and you give me a loaf of bread, and we fulfill each other’s debts to one another. Another example: I might be lonely and you might be lonely, so we can fulfill each other through mutual company. Human’s make exchanges like this on a daily basis for our entire lives.

But when we petition to God, we have nothing he needs in the way creatures have needs and can benefit each other. So when we ask for God’s pardon for doing something we shouldn’t have, or when we make a request for a certain grace, we are always - without exception - not doing it from a position of mutual exchange, but on a reliance of his generosity and goodness. There isn’t a logical way to repay a debt to him because it’s impossible for him - being God - to require anything or to be in debt.

Of course, he freely & lavishly gives his grace to those who sincerely ask and who want to follow His will, and he is more than happy to do so, but divine graces nonetheless remain a gift and always will be a gift. He does not give mercy through compulsion in the slightest.
 
ANV said:
Many on here are saying that we don’t deserve God’s mercy no matter how good we are or we try to be, why is it like this when we didn’t choose to born and when we didn’t choose to take a human form and nature to be judged of not deserving God’s mercy for having it?
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We can make ourselves worthy of his mercy. Jesus had said many times that the mercy we can expect depends on what we give to others. WHY? Because Jesus identifies himself in them. And the mercy we show to Him in them like kind will be shown to us.
 
Personally I don’t give a hoot about God’s mercy. If He wants to sit on His throne and dole out mercy to whomever He deems “worthy” so be it, but I really don’t care. It’s my life…and I get to decide how to live it. If that’s not good enough for God, then so be it. I’m willing to accept whatever judgment He chooses to dish out, but that’s His choice not mine.

I’m not averse to living my life in service to others, even God, in fact serving others is in my opinion one of the single most fulfilling things in life. But I do it because I want to, not because I’m under some obligation to, or because I need someone’s approval. I’m in no need of anyone’s mercy. I fully accept the consequences of my actions. If God wants to show me mercy, then show me mercy, but that’s His choice, not mine.

If God is truly merciful, then it’s not that there’s nothing that I can do to earn His mercy, it’s that there’s nothing that I need to do to gain His mercy.
 
ANV said:
Many on here are saying that we don’t deserve God’s mercy no matter how good we are or we try to be, why is it like this when we didn’t choose to born and when we didn’t choose to take a human form and nature to be judged of not deserving God’s mercy for having it?
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Because you choose what to do with your life. You are responsible for your choices.

In keeping with a notion of “fair exchange” or “justice”, my unrighteous acts merit an unrighteous reward.

I would find it more difficult to argue why I was entitled to anything I couldn’t otherwise obtain for myself. To do so would generally call for the invocation of “self-evident” truths, which can be rejected with no logical penalty.
 
The virtue of Hope as the subject thereby the mercy of God the ‘object’: we exercise this virtue by abandoning our own strength.

“Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength” (CCC 1817)

If we pursue happiness by our own mode we are vain. For it will pass, and it cannot be eternal. For we are made from nothing and have not the capacity to assume a mode for eternal happiness.

The proper perspective is to assiduously accept the purpose of God. Or in other words, surrender to his mercy. For if we do not, we are bound to ultimately destroy ourselves and others.

In a court of law, justice is the end. In that, we get what we deserve. We cannot put God on trial and demand mercy. “But the spiritual man judgeth all things; and he himself is judged of no man.” (1 Cor 2:15)
 
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