Submitted by David Miller
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each
other, just as in Christ, God forgave you. Ephesians 4:25-32
Jesus had
compassion on people. He considered them
as lost sheep in need of a shepherd. Matthew 9:36
says, Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were
distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. He taught
His followers to love their enemies and pray for those who persecuted them Matthew 5:44, But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you. He
even gave up His own life so that we, who had sinned against God, could be
forgiven Romans 5:8-11, But God demonstrates His own
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
So this
begs some questions. How do we view one
another? Do we view them as lost sheep
like Christ did or do we look at them as if their needs are not as important as
our needs? That a particular person is
not “within our scope of ministry” or they are not in our Sunday school class
or small group? Do we find ourselves
looking the other way rather than compassionately reaching towards the needs of
others?
God calls
us all to have compassion for one another.
He doesn’t give us permission to
pick
and choose who we demonstrate our compassion towards. Christ gave us the perfect example of an
all-inclusive compassion when He sacrificed His own life on the cross. We, as Christians, should personify His love
and compassion; otherwise, our witness is in vain. I like the way The Message puts it in John 13:34-35,
Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the
same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize
that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”
If we
start from a place of compassion, where we have empathy for others, we will see
how the world looks from where they are standing. By better sensing their struggles, pain,
insecurities, and fears, we gain a better chance of pouring the love of Christ
into them.
In
the not so theological movie, Bruce
Almighty, towards the end of the movie we find him praying a simple prayer
for his girlfriend Grace. He simply asks
God to let him see Grace the way God sees her, through His eyes.
Do we want
to show compassion the way Christ did?
Then we simply ask God to allow us to see others the way He does,
through His eyes. It will change our
perspective and our heart. What better
compassion can there be than that which flows from Christ, into us, and then
through us to a lost world. That is
authentic ministry.
