Show Some Compassion!

   Have you ever said to someone, "Show some compassion!" What exactly is compassion? When and why should it be shown? Well that's exactly what I want to talk about today. First of all, lets define the word compassion. Compassion is a feeling of kindness, concern, and love toward another person that results in action to help. The opposite of compassion is hard hearted. There are clear commands for us to show compassion to others in the Scriptures. Take for example 1 Peter 3:8, "Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:"

As I looked through the Scriptures I found some negative and positive examples of those who showed and didn't show compassion.

Some of the negative examples that I found were...

- Jonah (Jonah 1:1-2; 3:10; 4:1)
Instead of following God's example in giving the Ninevites another chance, he chose not to. Jonah was overcome with his prejudice toward the Ninevites. He couldn't let go of his feelings and didn't trust God's decision in how to deal with them.

- The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-30)
The rich man condemned himself to an eternal hell because of his hardened heart. He purposefully turned away from helping Lazarus even when he saw the pitiful state he was in.

- Disciples (Mark 10:13-16 & Matthew 14:15)
The disciples thought they were Jesus' personal bodyguards and tried to keep anyone from getting too close to Jesus. But Jesus didn't like it! He wants everyone to come to Him. Age, race, and nationality mean nothing to Him!


Some of the positive examples that I found were...

- Pharaoh's Daughter (Exodus 2:5-6)
At the risk of jeopardizing her favor with her father who had decreed all the first born male Hebrew babies be killed, she felt it too cruel to murder the precious bundle of humanity found in the bulrushes. She definitely had a tender heart!

- Jesus (Luke 7:11-17, Matthew 8:2-3, John 11:32-36)
Jesus demonstrated such a precious picture of how to feel for someone else's pain. Jesus didn't care if someone had a disease or was looked down upon by others. He touched the lepers, ate with the publicans, healed the sick and died for all sinners. What a wonderful example to follow!

- The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-34)
The Good Samaritan is like the model example of showing compassion in the Bible. Despite the way that the Jews had treated him he chose to help the Jewish man who lay on the side of the road. For as much as the Samaritan knew this man could have been someone who had mistreated him, but it didn't matter. This man went the extra mile in helping him.


   After preparing for this study, it made me question if I'm a compassionate person and what causes a person to show compassion? There can be many reasons why we don't react with compassion towards others. I think the main reason is because too often we put ourselves as no. 1 and don't really think about anyone else. Compassion is love in action, it's when you express genuine concern for others as our Father in Heaven does towards us. When you feel other's pain and react to it, having compassion on that person without any thought or reservation. It is a heart issue! What a better way to express God's love for another human being but through compassion. A good thing to remember is... Jesus-
Others-Yourself (J.O.Y.). Here is a good Bible verse to help us express and have true genuine Christ-like compassion flow through us.

Luke 10:27- "And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself."

To God be the Glory

~ Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport when Jesus we see. ~

Ps 115:1 ~ Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.

The word glory is such a strong word. In definition it means high renown or honor won or achieved by notable achievements. It should be evident to us that all glory belongs to God and not man. Everything around us displays God's glory.

Psalm 19:1~ The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Not only does His creation exemplify His glory to us, but His glory is way above it and will last forever.

Psalm104:3~ "Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind"

As the angels in Heaven give God the glory He well deserves, so should we.

Psalm 29:2~"Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."


Jeremiah 9:23-24
23 Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord 
which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, 
saith the Lord.

After pondering God's glory, I think it is totally inappropriate and shameful for us as Christians to seek glory and praise for ourselves. First of all because God tells us not to. Secondly because anything that we are able to do or accomplish is only through Him, because He allows us the ability. We have to remember that we can't do anything of ourselves. In everything we do, we should do it unto the Lord, even the things that we don't enjoy doing. He expects the best from us, and He knows when we aren't doing it. When we give God the glory, it keeps the attention off of us and is put on Him, ultimately enabling us to have a humble spirit.

Lastly, I want to talk about the ways that we can praise God and give Him the glory He so deserves.

Here are some things that I thought of...
- Seeking His guidance daily
- Using your talents as a ministry...this could be through (playing an instrument, singing, drawing,    
cooking, etc...)
- Acknowledging when God makes His presence known to you through His Word, answered prayer, or life's circumstances.

A very dear friend told me this and oh how true it is... it's easy to thank God for the good things that He allows in our life, but we should also give God the glory with the bad things or trials that He allows in our lives as well. So often we can't see how the circumstances and trials we go through are 
working together for good or how they will glorify God, but we do know that He is good and desires the best for us. He sees far beyond our human eyes. Some day He will reveal to us why we had to go 
through the things we did.

Romans 8:28 ~ "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them 
who are the called according to his purpose."

Ps 115:1~ "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake."

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Be Thou My Vision

On Wednesday evening at church we sang the song "Be Thou My Vision." While singing this song a verse really stood out to me and spoke to my heart.

Riches I heed not nor man's empty praise
Thou mine inheritance now and always
Thou and thou only first in my heart
High King of heaven my treasure Thou are

It reminded me that we don't have to worry about anything or anyone here on earth. Man's praise shouldn't matter to us.  Sadly it does seem to and we can get caught up in it. The only thing that we should be concerned about is if we are being pleasing to Jesus. We should want to make sure He gets the praise in everything we do, because it is only due to Him that we are able to do anything.  We need to constantly make sure that He alone is first in our hearts, because He is our treasure. Too often the busyness of this world gets us side tracked and we forget about who and what should be most important to us. We need to remember who we should be living for. It doesn't matter if we get recognition, popularity, prestige, or wealth because we as Christian have the best thing that we could ever hope to have, a place waiting for us in God's kingdom. I'm so thankful that even through a song God can speak to us.