Compassion

Compassion

“He that is ready to slip with his feet
is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.”
Job 12:5

Compassion is the great motivator within the hearts of those in whom His fire burns. It is the power of Christ Himself moving and reaching out into the lives of others with the love of Christ. Lives that are “at ease” are not moved by this inward press of God. There is an isolation and an indifference to the needs of others. This pharisaical tendency is often unaware of its own callousness. Spiritual blindness is a state in which men and women are oblivious to their own perilous condition and consequently are untouched and unmoved by the needs of others.

“For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”
Revelation 3:17

These are the words of Christ unto His own. “Not realizing” speaks volumes regarding those who are “at ease”. These words should penetrate our hearts and fill us with a “fear of the Lord” to keep diligent and cognizant of the deceptive nature of our own hearts.

Compassion is the root of all good works. Its power and unction will never leave us without the works of God within.

“And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.”
Matthew 9:36

The works and the words of Jesus flowed from the spring of the Love of God. His whole life was lived within the bounds of love and compassion. Whether He healed the broken or spoke a rebuke to the religious, His motive was pure.

It is the inherent nature of love to speak the truth. Love, God’s love, is intent upon you and me becoming true. It is to that end that we carry His fire within our own hearts. This insatiable desire for truth begins the moment Christ is born anew within. There is a quest for authenticity, a passion to be freed from the defiling and deceptive lies of our own self, for true peace is the fruit of righteousness. In being freed from unforgiveness, bitterness, envy, and selfishness we are at rest with God. The gospel of forgiveness is only the beginning of our journey into truth for truth has but one purpose – to make us true within ourselves. Too many are “at ease” today because they rely on words about God rather than the need to become Christ-like.

God must pierce our hearts with the sharp sword of His word that we may know the power of His compassion for others. Truth must be more than words. God desires truth to be the inward reality of our lives.

“Behold, You delight in truth in the inward being”
Psalm 51:6

The simple reality of a life rightly related to God is measured by the power of His compassion flowing from within.

“And Jesus, moved* with compassion,
put forth his hand, and touched him…”
Mark 1:41

*NOTE: It is essential for us to take heed to the truth… Jesus not only felt compassion He was moved by its power. True compassion takes us beyond feelings and brings us to involvement and identification. It is an expensive and costly expression clothed in sacrificial giving. It was the compassion of God to send His Son and it will be His compassion in us to offer the life of the Son to others.

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“Compassion costs. It is easy enough to argue, criticize and condemn, but redemption is costly, and comfort draws from the deep. Brains can argue, but It takes heart to comfort.”
Samuel Chadwick

SEE: The Sanctified Heart

Brian Troxel