Being compassion-driven is something to think about. I'm not talking about the big ways like supporting missions or outreach programs and the sort, but rather, the personal, everyday ways. Do we have a knee-jerk reaction when encountering someone in need of compassion or do we have a knee-jerk response? Reaction being akin to a bad reaction from medication, with response being the desired benefit...how do we act when confronted by one in need of our compassion.
Often times, people who cause us to become compassionate for them aren't necessarily seeking that from us. We observe their state and are moved in our hearts. Beyond being moved in our hearts, we often engage in unsolicited acts of kindness. Isn't it wonderful that God's love can manifest itself in us with nothing more than an observation that the need exists to have a "God moment"? Luke 13: 10-13 illustrates that compassion as Jesus merely noticed a woman afflicted with a crippled state, and with nobody begging or pleading for him to do anything about it, he called her forward and healed her.
What does being Christ-like mean in everyday life? More than a personal, intimate state, what does one's walk with Christ mean to those whom we encounter? Do we find ourselves engaging in random acts of kindness? I think I'm going to look for an opportunity to do just that, today.
1 comment:
I've been meditating on 2 Corinthians 5:14 the last few days - we are compelled by the love of Christ.
There's a huge difference between being duty-bound and love-compelled. Most of the time, if we're honest, then we're duty-bound, and we feel guilty if we don't measure-up to the sense of duty that we perceive. I don't want that - because I don't think God wants that for me.
I want to be love-compelled. I want the love of God to so saturate me, and to be so real and tangible towards me, that it also rises up within me as "unstoppable force" (the meaning of "compel") towards others. This is the true power of the gospel. Anything less is religion and striving. Anything less means that we haven't received God's love for ourselves - it's a concept to us, but not a reality.
God wants to flood us with His love. Compassion can only flow out of passion - His passion for us. We are poor at giving because we are poor at receiving - and no amount of our own effort can ever substitute for receiving our Heavenly Father's love.
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