The last six things we've gone over are mostly characteristics that we should try to have in order for our relationship with Christ to grow. The rest of the characteristics we'll go over are things we will learn from Christ when we do that. Things that we should strive to have. The first is compassion.
Compassion is simple, yet so lacking in our world. And as I remind you in just about every post, our job as christians is to live out our lives resembling Jesus as best we can. Well, jesus was all about love, in fact the bible says "God is love."
Love is the foundation for compassion.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
In older versions of the bible you will find that they use the word charity in place of the word love, this is because the Hebrew word for love means what the verse above describes which in our language is better described with the word charity. It is the act of dieing to ones self, and living for others. So you see, compassion and love go hand in hand.
It seems ironic to me that the worlds idea of love is a good feeling you get when someone treats you right, when in reality love is an action that we are to show. While compassion is seen as the act of doing something for others, when in reality it is the act of feeling with and for them.
Many times when we think of compassion we're reminded of those commercials we see with young orphaned children in some third world country, and the people who give up their lives to go there and help them. That is definitely compassion. But does that mean we can't be compassionate here at home? Surely not.
In fact compassion can and should reach a much broader range of actions then just feeding the hungry. There are people here among you and me who are hurting and need the hope we keep tucked away in our hearts.They need Christ's love. The best way that we can show them that is by filling ourselves so full of it that it overflows onto others. This goes back to having a quiet time with Christ, for how can we be like Him if we aren't spending time with Him? How can we poor out His love on others if we don't soak enough up ourselves?
Compassion, simply put, is having the heart of Christ. He came down to a sinful people who had already turned from Him once, knowing that He would be battered and beaten, frowned upon, hated and killed by them. Simply because He was not willing to let us die, and live eternally in a place created specifically for satin and his demons, at the hands of a merciless devil. If that is not a heart for humanity, then I don't know what is.
We live in a world full of unloved people who would do anything to find love. So many people are hurting because they feel like no one cares about them. This is because we were designed to be cared about deelpy. And when we lack that, we feel like we're missing something. Simply because we are. But Christ is here to fill that void, we just have to let Him in.
Our goal is to help them see that. So we must ask God to break our hearts for what breaks His. And give us such a burden for the lost that were not willing to let another perish without knowing about the salvation that they can receive. And most importantly, we must ask God to work in their lives and open their hearts to Him.
