Let mercy shape the room

Paul says the same thing in two letters, and in both the sentence has a hinge in the middle: be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another - as God in Christ forgave you.
Everything before the "as" is the behaviour. Everything after it is the reason, and the measure. The library notes on compassion put it plainly: our compassion is a response to having experienced God's compassion, and in the Hebrew Bible his compassion takes the form of forgiveness and rescue. So mercy is not generated by you deciding to be a nicer person. It is passed on. You give what you are standing in.
Scripture links:
- Ephesians 4:32 - "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."
- Colossians 3:12-13 - The same instruction, with the same standard.
The room takes its temperature from somebody. It may as well be from the mercy you were shown.