It was a car trip home one day after school and a big bug was buzzing around the cab. \u00a0Our daughter–who was 4 at the time, was screaming, visibly upset because she thought it was going to sting her, and one of her other siblings in the back kept his nose in the book completely unaware of what was going on and her distress. \u00a0He didn\u2019t move. He didn\u2019t acknowledge her and what she was going through.<\/p>\n
It is easy to become calloused to situations–sometimes to people we are around quite a bit (like the brother-sister situation above), hearing a fire truck or ambulance (do I stop and pray for that situation as they are passing by?), watching the news and all of the sadness in the world.<\/p>\n
But we are called to be different. \u00a0We are called to be moved with compassion.<\/em><\/p>\n What is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n When we look at compassion, it is having pity or a feeling of distress for others (Romans 9:15). \u00a0It is to be moved with compassion, to yearn with compassion (this one is used with Jesus and the multitudes with people or healing individuals). \u00a0It is a seat of emotion; deep emotions that can be touched (Philippians). Compassion goes DEEPER than a feeling. Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone..but compassion has action; it has a plan for helping.<\/p>\n Compassion not only wants the BEST for others, but it wants to find a solution for their MISERY. \u00a0It may not be an easy \u201cfix\u201d, and some of the \u201cfix\u201d may be on them, but YOUR HANDS AND FEET should be moving right along with them.<\/p>\n Biblical Examples of Compassion<\/strong><\/p>\n People may need compassion in several areas of their life…physically and spiritually. \u00a0God\u2019s Word gives us examples for us to look to in times just as these—-<\/em><\/p>\n Meeting Physical Needs<\/strong>:\u00a0We see in scripture several examples of compassion meeting physical needs. \u00a0Look at Jesus feeding the thousands (Mt. 15:32-39), Jesus with the leper (Mk 1:40-42), and Jesus and the demon possessed child (Mark 9:14-29). \u00a0Look at Ruth not wanting to leave Naomi in Ruth 1:16-17 or even Boaz later on in that book letting Ruth glean in the fields (Ruth 2). Look at Joseph with Mary in Matthew 1:19 when he didn\u2019t want her to suffer any disgrace..or how Elisha went to God in prayer in 2 Kings 4 with the death of the son.<\/p>\n Meeting Spiritual Needs:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Look at the examples we have in parables regarding spiritual needs…the prodigal son in Luke 15:20 or the master with the servant in Matthew 18:21-35 (and even an example here of how the servant easily forgot compassion given to him). \u00a0Look at the prayers given by Abraham in Genesis 18 when he was pleading with God for the righteous people in Sodom, or in Exodus 32 with Moses on behalf of the Israelites, or Nehemiah in Nehemiah 1 on behalf of the people (and himself) needing the mercy of God.<\/p>\n So…How do I obtain compassion?<\/p>\n Build up your EMPATHY<\/strong>. \u00a0Romans 12:15 tells us \u201cRejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.\u201d \u00a0We have to have an emotional connection to those who are struggling. You need to BEAR ONE ANOTHER\u2019s BURDENS (Galatians 6:2). \u00a0Sometimes it can be difficult because you DON\u2019T know exactly how someone else is feeling–every situation is different. Maybe before you approach the situation, make a list \u00a0to reflect everything that a person can be going through in order to better understand or help\u2026.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n PRAY before your speak.<\/strong> \u00a0Sometimes, when we have to have those hard conversations, in order to soften our hearts so that we can see their heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Pray by yourself before you go. \u00a0Pray with them before the conversation even starts.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Keep Ephesians 4:31-32 close to your heart.<\/strong> \u00a0\u201cLet all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. \u00a0And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.\u201d \u00a0Verse 31 is of Satan..Verse 32 is of God.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Keep a humble heart.<\/strong> \u00a0Helping someone isn\u2019t for your glory. \u00a0It is for God. Your motivation shouldn\u2019t be for praise to promote selfishness. \u00a0It isn\u2019t to be seen like the Pharisees who wanted everyone to see their good works.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Perseverance:<\/strong> \u00a0God\u2019s compassion and faithfulness has endured through generations (Psalm 100:5; 103:8). \u00a0A situation may not be easily \u201cfixed\u201d. It may be long term (i.e. caring for someone struggling with something regarding their health). \u00a0Keep your eyes focused on the compassion God has given us as His people. Look to His example when you are discouraged.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n The news knows that in order to get reviews, most people are drawn to the \u201cbad.\u201d \u00a0Don\u2019t let this callous your heart.. Have your eyes open looking and building relationships so that you can be used for HIS glory. \u00a0Be compassionate. Think about what it would be like if that situation was turned on you..<\/p>\n Anchored to Him,<\/p>\n Leigh Ann<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was a car trip home one day after school and a big bug was buzzing around the cab. \u00a0Our daughter–who was 4 at the time, was screaming, visibly upset because she thought it was going to sting her, and one of her other siblings in the back kept his nose in the book completely unaware of what was going on and her distress. \u00a0He didn\u2019t move. He didn\u2019t acknowledge her and what she was going through. It is easy to become calloused to situations–sometimes to people we are around quite a bit (like the brother-sister situation above), hearing a fire truck or ambulance (do I stop and pray for that situation as they are passing by?), watching the news and all of the sadness in the world. But we are called to be different. \u00a0We are called to be moved with compassion. What is it? When we look at compassion, it is having pity or a feeling of distress for others (Romans 9:15). \u00a0It is to be moved with compassion, to yearn with compassion (this one is used with Jesus and the multitudes with people or healing individuals). \u00a0It is a seat of emotion; deep emotions that can be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shelteredingrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_9823.jpg?fit=750%2C461&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shelteredingrace.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shelteredingrace.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shelteredingrace.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shelteredingrace.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shelteredingrace.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/shelteredingrace.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163,"href":"https:\/\/shelteredingrace.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions\/163"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shelteredingrace.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shelteredingrace.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shelteredingrace.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shelteredingrace.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n