These last few weeks, I have been amazed at the huge compassion of Jesus toward others and the huge lack of compassion in my life. I have been teaching through the gospel of Mark to the teens and noticed the multitude of people who came to Jesus for healing but wanted nothing else to do with Jesus. They simply wanted to use Him for what they could get out of Him and then were out of His life, probably even involving themselves in a life of sin. Where I notice the compassion of Jesus is that, although He knew these people's heart and future, He still proceeded to heal them any way. Love with no strings attached. How many of us love unconditionally? That is, without expecting any love in return. How many of us would love a certain individual if we knew he was only using us, taking advantage of us in some way? I do not think I would show this man compassion and mercy.
It seems that God is working in my heart to make me a more merciful and compassionate person toward others. This last Thursday prayer meeting, I taught a devotional from James 2 on the importance of showing mercy to others without partiality. If you remember the passage, James mentions a scenario where a rich man and a poor man walk into the church. The rich man is shown great mercy by giving him the place of honor. The poor man is treated with dishonor and lack of mercy and compassion. James goes on to say that we should show mercy to all without separating whom we should love or how we should love. Right before I got up to share this teaching, guess what God decided to do to me and for me?
He gave me a hands-on application of that very teaching. Right before I got up (literally seconds), one of our regular drunkards of the neighborhood walked in the door and sat in the back row. He has a deep, loud voice which he obviously cannot control. As soon as I saw him enter, I thought, "God, get rid of this idiot. He's just going to ruin this whole Bible study." And God worked in my heart by reminding me exactly what I was teaching on at that moment. He was the poor man whom I was dishonoring in my mind. So I was challenged by God that I needed to show the great compassion and mercy of Jesus at that time, not just outwardly but inwardly. After all, "has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love Him?" (James 2:5)
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1 comment:
Thanks for sharing your heart. I see these same attitudes so often in my own heart. It is so convicting because I want to believe that I am "above" that kind of behavior. (But, of course I am not.)
I need to be prepared to be more compassionate. Can't I be ready for the next begger at the gate?
How about being compassionate toward the bossy, know-it-all teenager at church?
There are so many implications to this...
Thanks for getting me think - Chris
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