Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another... Colossians 3:12-13a
How We Treat People Matters
Jesus was travelling with his followers. When he got to a little town called Nain, he stopped as he noticed a weeping woman in a funeral procession. He didn’t stumble upon this procession accidentally. He was there for this grieving woman specifically. It was his father’s work for him that day. But what if… What if Jesus was in a hurry and didn’t stop? What if he was tired and didn’t stop? What if he was hungry and thirsty and didn’t stop? What if he just didn’t care?
Do you feel that way sometimes when you are in a hurry and someone stops you? Do you ever think “I don’t have time for this?" Jesus never did. He never passed by someone who had a need and called on his name. Thank God that Jesus loved all those people despite being distracted by them or feeling like they were an obligation or obstruction to what he was doing. We, however, are not so gracious at times. Sunday Pastor Jim gave us four ways we see people:
How we see people:
Distractions - If we are in the middle of doing something, or in a hurry, or selfishly just do not want to deal with someone, we see them as unwanted distractions.
Obligations – We often see people as obligations to fulfill, not as someone we really care about.
Obstructions – Much like being a distraction, we can see people as obstructions to what we want or want to do.
Invitations – This is how Jesus sees everyone and how he wants us to see them as well. For every distraction, obligation or obstruction, Jesus is at work and is inviting you to join him. Your actions become an invitation for them to “Come and See” exactly who Jesus is and what life in him looks like.
It may seem that Jesus was willing to be interrupted and inconvenienced over and over again. But he wasn’t interrupted and inconvenienced at all. He was doing the work of his Father every moment of every day. He was traveling with his followers and stopped in Nain, but the real purpose of the day was not the journey or where he was going. It was raising the widow’s son from the dead – his father’s work that glorified his father and pointed everyone there to him. The widow’s life was not the only life that was changed that day.
Remember that the next time you go anywhere. The real point of your life is not where you are going or how fast you get there. It is not preparing the very best Sunday School lesson or even being in attendance for every worship service or fellowship. The real purpose of our lives is to be about our Father’s work like Jesus was. That means being willing to be detained, interrupted, inconvenienced, and sacrifice. Our time is not our own. The time we are here on earth belongs to our heavenly father and as we have learned, walking the Jesus Way is to live and love like him. Everything we do (including how we treat others at all times) and say should reflect him and point others to him.
Sunday Pastor Jim said that the two most powerful words in the Bible are “Jesus stopped.” He stopped for the grieving woman and he stops for us. The people that were there that day witnessed Jesus performing a miracle and their lives were changed. We are not performing miracles like Jesus did, but when we love them like Jesus loves we can change their lives. A smile, a kind word, or an act of kindness can change someone’s whole day. Compassion turned to action. Who have you stopped for recently? Did you treat them as distractions, obligations, or obstructions? Or did you treat them as an invitation into the work God is doing around you? Pray for an open heart, ears to hear and eyes to see what work God is putting before you today.
