Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations3:22,23NIV
The old testament prophet Jeremiah is known as the ‘Weeping Prophet’, but there is no sign of sadness here when he talks about compassions. That’s plural because God is compassionate in every part of our lives. What a word of promise to grasp. It’s more than pity, or sympathy, or even empathy, and it is God given.
Who among us has not had a tough day? Perhaps with bad news about health or finances? When these times come (and they do) we don’t feel like praying, even though we know there is only one source for peace of heart and mind. This lovely passage tells me that God’s great love for us prevents Him from turning away. “We are not consumed” is the way it is recorded in the Bible. God’s love for us is both infinite and eternal and we should be thankful.
But it doesn’t stop there. God is compassionate in a way that no human can copy or explain. His compassions NEVER fail because He is faithful beyond our wildest imaginations. So, when we have one of those days when our world is crumbling around us, and we lay our head on the pillow desperately wanting sleep to forget, God is not asleep! And get this, His great love and compassions are new every morning! EVERY MORNING, whether we had that bad day or a good day because His love does not depend on us. God loves us with an everlasting love in spite of ourselves, and because of who He is! I don’t know about you, but all I can say to that promise is “thank you, and amen Lord”.
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Showing posts with label compassion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label compassion. Show all posts
Tuesday, 15 January 2019
Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Trying
[ Suffering for Doing Good ] Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 1 Peter 3:8
This verse finds me trying in two senses. Firstly, I am constantly trying to live out these wise and inspired words, and secondly, I sometimes find them ‘trying’ because I don’t always reach the mark and fall short. But as Paul writes in Philippians 3:14 “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” So, we should never give up trying to be more Christlike as Paul says. Peter takes the theme and says we should be more….
Like minded, suggesting that we need to treat our brothers and sisters with the same care that they treat us. With respect and due care. Our churches would always be more welcoming and friendly if we were all working to the same goal, and we did not have the hierarchy of self appointed leaders. There is no room for pride in a like minded group.
Sympathetic churches show the heart of Jesus in the community. It takes a real Christian to show true and genuine sympathy for the downtrodden, forgotten homeless people who live on the streets. It is easier to forget or ignore these people, but we are commanded to sympathise with their lives and lifestyles. They may not behave or look like the clean, respected members who fill our pews, but we cannot distance ourselves from them, or their needs.
Love one another tells me the highest calling we need to have for our fellow Christians. When we grasp the fact that God IS love, then it follows that we must show that same Christlike love to our brothers and sisters. Peter doesn’t say this because it’s easy, because as the old saying goes, “It’s hard to love the unlovely”, but we are commanded to, so we must. Not a halfhearted ‘like’, but a full blown selfless Christian agape love.
Be compassionate and show it. This is practical and unmistakeable. When we are compassionate, the world can see it, and then know for certain that we mean to share the love we have for each other, with them too. The combination of love and compassion is contagious, and shows the world we are serious about their salvation too. We think their soul is worth saving for eternity.
Humble. In one small word, we encapsulate the hardest thing for us to do as Christians. Oh we say we are not proud, but we fail the test when we think, no one else can do this job like me. Or, I have been helping to run this church all my life, so I know all about the needs better than everyone else. Or again, where would they be without my tithes or offerings? The burden on my shoulders is great, but I still think I am humble. Really? Humility is elusive. When we actively believe we have achieved humility, it’s at that point we have lost it! I think Peter left this command to the last because without it, we become a sham, and the world can see through a phoney with no trouble.
This verse finds me trying in two senses. Firstly, I am constantly trying to live out these wise and inspired words, and secondly, I sometimes find them ‘trying’ because I don’t always reach the mark and fall short. But as Paul writes in Philippians 3:14 “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” So, we should never give up trying to be more Christlike as Paul says. Peter takes the theme and says we should be more….
Like minded, suggesting that we need to treat our brothers and sisters with the same care that they treat us. With respect and due care. Our churches would always be more welcoming and friendly if we were all working to the same goal, and we did not have the hierarchy of self appointed leaders. There is no room for pride in a like minded group.
Sympathetic churches show the heart of Jesus in the community. It takes a real Christian to show true and genuine sympathy for the downtrodden, forgotten homeless people who live on the streets. It is easier to forget or ignore these people, but we are commanded to sympathise with their lives and lifestyles. They may not behave or look like the clean, respected members who fill our pews, but we cannot distance ourselves from them, or their needs.
Love one another tells me the highest calling we need to have for our fellow Christians. When we grasp the fact that God IS love, then it follows that we must show that same Christlike love to our brothers and sisters. Peter doesn’t say this because it’s easy, because as the old saying goes, “It’s hard to love the unlovely”, but we are commanded to, so we must. Not a halfhearted ‘like’, but a full blown selfless Christian agape love.
Be compassionate and show it. This is practical and unmistakeable. When we are compassionate, the world can see it, and then know for certain that we mean to share the love we have for each other, with them too. The combination of love and compassion is contagious, and shows the world we are serious about their salvation too. We think their soul is worth saving for eternity.
Humble. In one small word, we encapsulate the hardest thing for us to do as Christians. Oh we say we are not proud, but we fail the test when we think, no one else can do this job like me. Or, I have been helping to run this church all my life, so I know all about the needs better than everyone else. Or again, where would they be without my tithes or offerings? The burden on my shoulders is great, but I still think I am humble. Really? Humility is elusive. When we actively believe we have achieved humility, it’s at that point we have lost it! I think Peter left this command to the last because without it, we become a sham, and the world can see through a phoney with no trouble.
Thursday, 2 June 2016
Chain (re)Action
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 1 Corinthians 1:3,4
We have a comforting and gracious God, who knows when to step in and give us His peace. When that happens we are happy to be on the receiving end, and just take. In fact, we will take any kindness that’s going, from God or anyone else. But should it stop there? Not as far as this passage is concerned.
Paul turns it on its head, and tells us to pass on God’s comfort to others. Take a moment and think. God gives comfort to us, but we are to give that same comfort away. It’s still active and real and effective when we give it to others. It’s every bit as effective as when God gave us HIS comfort. This is a chain reaction.
Will you be the one to break the chain? The old saying goes, “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link” and this is true in this case too. We are being reminded that we are not just to be takers. We must be givers too if we are to reflect the likeness of God into the lives of those around us who are hurting. Let’s face it, the words of the song, “Everybody needs compassion” are so true. Can you remember the Blessing you felt when you passed on a smile, a word, a card, a phone call to someone else? Will you be a part of the chain of Christian comfort, love and compassion, or will you be the weakest link? I pray we are all up to the challenge to keep the chain strong!
Thursday, 15 August 2013
Compassion
How far does your Christian compassion go? If it is anything like mine, it is pretty good most of the time, because we naturally feel some sympathy with people who need help, or are suffering badly through no fault of their own.
Compassion is a different and much misunderstood word, and we mistake it for blind sympathy. I looked up the definition of compassion, and it is: “Deep awareness of the suffering of another, coupled with the wish to relieve it.” When I read about the times that Jesus was compassionate, it was always to people who had no control over the position they were in. They might have been poor, blind, or hungry, but never because of their own actions. So, am I wrong not to feel compassion for the victims of drug dealers and pushers, or for the dealers and pushers themselves? This is a tough question, and one that must be answered honestly. I have no doubt that God can, and does, forgive drug users and their dealers completely and fully, but can I? Can you? Our actions have consequences, and Jesus never changed the natural consequences of any human actions, even when He was on the cross, did He? I feel sorry (but not too sorry) for these two young drug carriers, but I can’t bring myself to feel compassion. Am I wrong as a Christian? Should I feel both sympathy and compassion?
Apparently, the USA has a prison body of 1% of the adult population, and half of those are for drug related crime. This is astonishing, but shows a deep underlying problem, which all ‘free’ western cultures share, including the UK. We have an epidemic of unhappiness on our hands, and we don’t know how to deal with it. We try to break habits of the offenders, and put prisoners into rehab and programs to break addiction. All well and good, but these don’t address the root of the problem, do they? What can you do to make the problem better, and make people happier?
This week there are two young women from Scotland and Ireland, who are spending prison time in Peru, waiting for a trial, perhaps a year away, for being drugs couriers. They were carrying about 25lbs of cocaine worth millions of Dollars. A drug which promises happiness, but delivers heartache, sadness, broken homes, and death. They claim they didn’t know the drugs were in their luggage, and then changed their story to say they were forced at gunpoint. I don’t know about you, but when I travel, I have to know down to the last ounce, what the weight of my case is, and have to go through a barrage of security questions before travelling to determine that I know what is in my case, and that I am solely responsible for the contents. There is a big difference between making a mistake about what foodstuff is allowed, and hard drugs. So do I feel sympathetic to the plight of these girls? In a way, I do, but I am not sure I am happy with myself for that feeling.
Compassion is a different and much misunderstood word, and we mistake it for blind sympathy. I looked up the definition of compassion, and it is: “Deep awareness of the suffering of another, coupled with the wish to relieve it.” When I read about the times that Jesus was compassionate, it was always to people who had no control over the position they were in. They might have been poor, blind, or hungry, but never because of their own actions. So, am I wrong not to feel compassion for the victims of drug dealers and pushers, or for the dealers and pushers themselves? This is a tough question, and one that must be answered honestly. I have no doubt that God can, and does, forgive drug users and their dealers completely and fully, but can I? Can you? Our actions have consequences, and Jesus never changed the natural consequences of any human actions, even when He was on the cross, did He? I feel sorry (but not too sorry) for these two young drug carriers, but I can’t bring myself to feel compassion. Am I wrong as a Christian? Should I feel both sympathy and compassion?
Sunday, 8 August 2010
Compassion and Justice
It was a year ago that the Scottish government released the Lockerbie Bomber, Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, on compassionate grounds to die in his home country, Libya. He had three months or so to live we were told. A passionate debate erupted on the streets and in the media, of the rights and wrongs of the decision, and that debate has never really gone away.
He has outlived his original estimate by a factor of four, and although in ill health, he is with his family, in his home country, and treated as a hero in the fight against 'the western culture and religion'. Kenny McAskill saw fit to release him, because he felt 'compassion' for him. Compassion is good and right, but I am not sure we have struck the right balance of justice and compassion here.
Given that this terrorist was released on compassionate grounds, I can only assume that there will be other prisoners who merit that same compassion. Maybe they are terminally ill. Maybe they are gravely ill. Maybe it is a young mother who desperately needs to be with her children. Where do we draw the line of who should benefit from our compassion, and who should not. Strangely, I have not heard of any other prisoners who have been released for the same reason. That alone makes me question the kind of compassion Kenny McAskill used in his decision.
We do not want to drop to the level of vengeance which Cardinal Keith O'Brien accuses the USA of adopting in its justice system, but neither should we free mass murderers because they are very ill. Also, since we don't like it when the USA meddles in our justice system, we should not meddle in theirs. I think the Cardinal stepped outside his bounds with his comments. Since our lifespan is not determined by a doctor, but by that higher power which Mr McAskill talked about, we cannot afford to use compassion as a reason for freedom. If that was truly the case, there would have been many others who would benefit from freedom from prison.
If a terrorist is given compassion, what then do we give to the families of the 270 people who died at his hands? It must be more than compassion, but what is it? A pat on the back, and a 'there there, you will feel better soon' platitude? Because that is what it is, just words, and that same compassion is missing. So what do I think? I reckon Al Megrahi should have lived out the rest of his natural life in prison, or in a prison hospital, no matter the cost. That's not because I do not have compassion, but that justice means I also have compassion for the other innocents who are still living with this terrorists actions, and I have more of it for them.
He has outlived his original estimate by a factor of four, and although in ill health, he is with his family, in his home country, and treated as a hero in the fight against 'the western culture and religion'. Kenny McAskill saw fit to release him, because he felt 'compassion' for him. Compassion is good and right, but I am not sure we have struck the right balance of justice and compassion here.
Given that this terrorist was released on compassionate grounds, I can only assume that there will be other prisoners who merit that same compassion. Maybe they are terminally ill. Maybe they are gravely ill. Maybe it is a young mother who desperately needs to be with her children. Where do we draw the line of who should benefit from our compassion, and who should not. Strangely, I have not heard of any other prisoners who have been released for the same reason. That alone makes me question the kind of compassion Kenny McAskill used in his decision.
We do not want to drop to the level of vengeance which Cardinal Keith O'Brien accuses the USA of adopting in its justice system, but neither should we free mass murderers because they are very ill. Also, since we don't like it when the USA meddles in our justice system, we should not meddle in theirs. I think the Cardinal stepped outside his bounds with his comments. Since our lifespan is not determined by a doctor, but by that higher power which Mr McAskill talked about, we cannot afford to use compassion as a reason for freedom. If that was truly the case, there would have been many others who would benefit from freedom from prison.
If a terrorist is given compassion, what then do we give to the families of the 270 people who died at his hands? It must be more than compassion, but what is it? A pat on the back, and a 'there there, you will feel better soon' platitude? Because that is what it is, just words, and that same compassion is missing. So what do I think? I reckon Al Megrahi should have lived out the rest of his natural life in prison, or in a prison hospital, no matter the cost. That's not because I do not have compassion, but that justice means I also have compassion for the other innocents who are still living with this terrorists actions, and I have more of it for them.
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