The Lord's Compassion

The very definition of compassion flows from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our Lord is the best example of compassion that we will ever see. If we ever doubt the level of compassion that Lord has for us, than we simply need to examine His hands and His feet. He looked upon us, full of sin, full of disregard for Him and His word and was still willing to lay down His life for us.There is no greater form of compassion that exists. This is compassion at its finest! This is also love at its pinnacle! God’s compassion also does not discriminate. Scripture tells us He has compassion on all He has made, not merely a select few. Can we even wrap our minds around this thought for just one moment? Without the compassion of the Lord, we would never have salvation. What a sobering thought. It is when God’s compassion flows that the healing power of salvation can come in like a flood!

“The Lord is gracious and compassionate slow to anger and rich in love, The Lord is good to all: he has compassion on all he has made.” Psalm 145:8-9

“(The Lord) who redeems your life from the pit and who crowns you with love and compassion.” Psalm 103:4

Our calling to compassion

Christ calls us to have compassion on one another. This can be a daunting task because unlike the Lord who is slow to anger, rich in love and full of compassion, we can sometimes be quick to anger, poor in love and running on empty in the compassion department. However, despite our downfalls, Christ desires us to flow with compassion towards others. I tend to believe that we must take extensive measures to clothe ourselves with compassion each and every day. There is no automatic button in the kingdom that we can push when we need to have compassion on a person and a particular situation. Being compassionate takes work! I know for me, I often forget to put on my compassion shirt some days. Clothing ourselves with compassion can be especially difficult with the people we are most close to, like our family and friends. When we forget to clothe ourselves with compassion we find ourselves saying or doing things we regret later. I don’t know about you, but I have found myself in this situation more times then I care to admit.

“Be kind and compassionate one to another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12

Christ has set for us the ultimate example of compassion. He knows that in our humanness we are not going to pour out compassion freely without missing the mark from time to time (or if you are anything like me, most of the time). I thank God that He is so patient in this area. He is willing to take His time with us to make sure that we not only know what it feels like to have compassion poured out on us in abundance with no strings attached to it, but He is also going to be patient with us as we learn how to pour out that same type of compassion for others. Let’s allow the Lord to teach us and mold us into people who move in great compassion on others. We never know when one small act of compassion can turn into eternal life for that individual.

Lord, I thank you for our beautiful example of compassion on us. I pray that we remember to clothe ourselves each and every morning with an abundance of compassion. Help us to yield to your process of teaching us how to be a people of great compassion. Teach us how to move in that vein of compassion with the people we come across in our daily lives. Help us to be slow anger, rich in love and full and overflowing with compassion. These are the things that a dying world needs to see in so many ways.