We had a short teaching time with the youth on their 2nd Sunday Service night.
Luke 6:36: Be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
God is compassionate by nature. He feels for those who are suffering so much that he has an intense desire to relieve their suffering. We have a natural compassion for people we love and care about. Problem is, we are partial. We do not have the same compassion for those suffering in our community that we do not love. Fortunately, God is not partial. He has an intense love and compassion for everybody. How does he show it to them? He looks for attentive and obediant followers who have the capacity to break out beyond ordinary compassion into the type of exceptional love and mercy Jesus talks about in Luke 6. This type of compassion is a portal to a new way of being. Jesus talked about it as the kingdom of heaven, the complete life, and a joy made complete.
Where are our hearts? Are we compassionate in the exceptional way as God is? What if the answer is no? Awareness is a good first step. Next, let's ask, seek, and knock. Let's practice compassion with an attentiveness to both what the Spirit is teaching us in our hearts and to the suffering of the families we are serving. Then let's debreif and talk about it in community.
No comments:
Post a Comment