Compassion

Psalm 145:7-9

They celebrate your abundant goodness
    and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

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. NIV

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

My daughter shared a quote with me this week from Rick Warren-“Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate."

As a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, I’m called to love and have compassion. Jesus didn’t spend his time sitting around with his disciples gossiping and judging people. Instead, he reached out to those who needed him the most. His purpose— to draw them closer to the Father, to show them the joy of following the one true God, and to redeem them from sin. A tightrope has been drawn that requires a firm balance. As a Christian I hate sin, but love people. The tricky part is that we all sin. So I am called to love everyone. I may not like the personality or choices of the person, but God tells me to show compassion and love. I pray that I can continue to show God’s redeeming love as I live for Christ.

How do you show compassion?