Romans 12:8 NKJV
he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
In Romans 12, Paul exhorted the church to use the gifts God gave them. He went on to describe the attitude that should accompany the use of the different gifts. When it comes to showing mercy, there are those who are especially gifted in this area. That automatically means they have power and/or resources to help people in need. However, all of us will find opportunities to show mercy at some point - if only in giving forgiveness to someone who offended us. Whether we are operating out of a special gift of mercy, or just showing mercy in some way, the attitude accompanying that display should be the same. We should be cheerful or glad to do it. It is important for us to know that, so we can ask and receive the Lord's help if we need to get our attitudes right. God looks at the heart. It matters to Him how we do what we do. Until we can show mercy with cheerfulness, we need to stay in the "Potter's" house and let Him work on us.
