COMPASSION
"Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful." (Luke 6:36 NKJ)
When you read God’s word do you find that you are frequently “busted?” Unless you are perfect, the answer is a loud yes. In the New Living Translation Jesus says that we must be compassionate like God is compassionate. The Live Bible says that we should have compassion like our Father does. I know for a fact that I do not always have all the compassion I should. When I think of mercy in our present day understanding, I am inclined to look at it as giving people a break. That is a lot easier than having compassion.
Compassion tells me to consider how they feel. It tells me that how I feel or what I want is not what is most important. Previous to this Jesus spoke about loving, praying, and doing good for our enemies. He said if someone takes something from you not to worry about it. Was he kidding or what! We are to treat people the way we want to be treated no matter how they treat us. Well, forgiving them and giving them a break is one thing, but wishing them well takes a little more work!
Have you ever noticed that how you feel about someone else being ill changes when you yourself have suffered the same illness? Like if you have suffered severe back pain you have a lot more compassion when someone else does. I never understood how bad an earache could be until I had one. Wow, I want to tell you that I have compassion for folks with earaches now. Oh, and I had a tooth ache once that no pain killer could touch, so now if someone has a tooth ache I have instant compassion on them. I can relate to their pain.
But then, there are the times when my kids are messing around after I have told them to settle down and one of them gets hurt. Where is my compassion then? Busted. That is one place when I need work. Things like “I warned you” and “I don’t feel very sorry for you” and “now you see what you get” all come to mind and unfortunately they come out of my mouth if I am not on guard. That is not compassion. Do you ever have those “I hope they get what is coming to them” ideas pass through your mind and over you lips? When someone else has need do you ever think, “Who cares?” Well, what if God gave us what we had coming to us? Do we want Him to care about us? How do we want God to treat us? How much do we trust Him to do all that He has promised to do for us? Don’t we want God to go the extra mile with us? That is compassion. He knows our weakness and loves us and blesses anyway. He knows how we doubt and really don’t trust Him, but he has compassion and helps us in spite of our unbelief.
Compassion wants the best for others first and trusts God to take care of the rest. It gets pretty lonely if we only care about ourselves. Sometimes I do really well with compassion and other times I see that I fail miserably. Well, if I want to hear the Lord say well done, I better enlist His help so that I can be compassionate just like my Father is. Lord, help us all!