Active Compassion

1 John 3:16-24 >>

16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

21 Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. 22 And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.

23 And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.

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Thoughts: To love with actions means that we don’t consider our lives ahead others, but we give generously. People can feel love that we think about in our heads or feel in our hearts. They can feel it through something manifested – through an action.

SPIRITUAL RESPONSIBILITY: HAVING CHRIST’S COMPASSION

Mark 6:31-37 >>

31 Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.

32 So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. 33 But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them. 34 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35 Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. 36 Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.”

37 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”

“With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!”

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Jesus’ attitude toward those who are neglected, hungry, and without shepherds was to help them and feed them, even though He and His disciples were hungry themselves.
2. Self Reflection: My attitude towards my friends that are spiritually lost is sometimes apathetic, which is bad! Or I feel bad but don’t do much about it! X___X Also bad! I need to make time to pray for them and reach out to them actively.

Compassion = Kindness

Ephesians 5:8-10,
8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord.

Proverbs 3:26,
26 for the LORD will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being snared.

Colossians 4:1,
1Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

James 4:17,
17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

Philippians 4:5
5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near

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As children of the light, the light inside us produces what is good and right and true. We do good; we are fair to those below us (remembering that we also have a master in heaven- God); we are also considerate.

Compassion Requires Sacrifice

Mark 6:30-37
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
30The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

32So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

37But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages[a]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

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1. Jesus had compassion on the people because they were like sheep without a shepherd. That’s why He began to teach them. Jesus also wanted to care for their physical beings, too, by feeding them. The disciples’ reaction to feeding the five thousand was asking how that was possible with their limited resources. They didn’t realize that God owns an infinite amount of resources!

2. I think God also wants me to have compassion on “spiritually abandoned” people (like sheep without a shepherd) and care for them too.

3. Upon seeing people I see in my day to day life, I do have compassion on people but not enough. I want to take more action.

We Need God’s Compassion (2)

Matthew 18:23-25,
23″Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents[a] was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

James 2:13
13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

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1. What caused the king to forgive his servant’s debts was that he had mercy on him. The king became angry toward the wicked servant later on, however, because the servant would not show mercy on a fellow servant, after he had been shown mercy himself (and greater mercy for that matter).
2. My attitude towards asking for forgiveness from God and other people is that I should be humble and ask for God’s mercy, and also show mercy towards others.
3. I strive to always forgive people who irritate me or do wrong. My attitude is to confront if I need to address the issue at hand to prevent future issues, or to brush if off if it is not a big deal. I try to guard my heart the best that I can.

Learn to Value God’s Compassion

1 Timothy 1:12-17
The Lord’s Grace to Paul
12I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 13Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

15Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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1. Before he knew Jesus, Paul claimed to be the worst sinner of them all, who used to blaspheme the name of Christ and in his “insolence, (he) persecuted (God’s) people.”
2. Yet he realized God’s compassion on him; He experienced God’s love and appreciates it so because he realized how great of a sinner he once was and how patient and merciful our God was towards him and towards all of us sinners.

Always Show Compassion

James 3:17,
17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

Jude 1:22-23,
22Be merciful to those who doubt; 23snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

1 Peter 2:9-10
9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

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1. The kind of character I need to have when facing others who are uncertain and easily influenced is a merciful character that does not judge or hate them, but hate the sins that “contaminate their lives”and for some, “snatch” them out of the “flames of judgment,” but being careful with others  so that we also do not become contaminated.
2. When seeing people live in destruction or have no morals, I should not judge them but hate their sin and have compassion on them. I should try my best to pray for them -that the Holy Spirit touch their lives,and also show them love and good and kind deeds.

Compassion = Love + Deed

Luke 10:27-37 >> 27 He answered: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

1. The Samaritan, after his heart was moved with compassion, went to the wounded man and bandaged his woulnds, pured oil and wine on it (both valuable, especially at that time). He then brought him to a nice place, an inn, and took care of him. He even followed up the next day and gave the innkeeper two silver coins to look after him and said he’ll reimburse the innkeeper for any additional expenses he may have. This man had compassion and took it upon himself to take care of a stranger because he could not take care of himself at that time. Amazing, inspiring and worth sharing. I am learning a lot from this Samaritan.
2. I think I am sometimes sensitive of other’s needs, but especially when it’s convenient for me. When I feel too much pressure, say, for example, from other people, then sometimes I feel limited to care too much about others, because first and foremost, I need to take care of my family and those close to me. But I just need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and really willing to obey and do His bidding so that I am a Spirit-led Christian.
3. I want to make a new commitment that for my decisions, I will try to remember to ask the Holy Spirit first and be sensitive to His guidance (and to do what He says).

Compassion

Matthew 9:9-13

The Calling of Matthew
9As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?”

12On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 23:23

23″Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

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1. Jesus welcomed thoe who were sinful, rejected, and not really cared for to come eat with Him!
2. The attitude we need to have before we minister to such people is that of humility. We are all people that God loves, and so we should treat them with such love.
3. My attitude towards those people who have sinned or are living in sin is that before I saw them with such disgust and found them distasteful in general, but now I’m learning to see them not in that light, but instead to have compassion on them and still see that God loves them, even while they are in sin, just the same like us (when we were living in sin, He already loved us-He already loved us since before we were born!). I no longer feel a right to judge them, and instead I want to encourage them to turn back from those wicked ways and return to the Lord Jesus.

Learn From God’s Compassion

Luke 6:32-36
32″If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ lend to ’sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

1. Honestly, sometimes I haven’t been treating those who are my enemies of have done wrong to me, or are still living in sin, with the best treatment. Sometimes I mistreat them and I want to learn to change from this. It’s a step-by-step process I believe, but I also know that the Holy Spirit is working in me to make me more like Christ. I want to practice more and more showing the love of Christ to others.
2. According to the verses above, some characteristics of someone who is compassionate toward their enemies is that they love, do good and even “lend” without expecting anything in return. So really, it is like giving I think, but the verse says “lend,” hehe.