Saturday Motivation: Be Compassionate.

Saturday Motivation With Yahwendy!
Be Compassionate

Text 1; Exodus 2v6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
Text 2; Mark 6v34; And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things.

Compassion! What Does It Mean?
Compassion is simply the ability to recognize the suffering of others and to be willing and available to help them according to our strengths.

Compassion stems from being conscious of the suffering of others and being sympathetic to their needs notwithstanding their race, class, ethnicity or orientation.
Compassion is similar to love for humanity, especially to strangers and the unloved in the society. It is having a keen eye for the distress and pain in the life of others and seeking means or resources to alleviate it.
Compassion means bearing the physical, mental and emotional pain of others or going out of our way to help them out of an uncomfortable situation.

What is compassion according to Scriptures?

Biblically, compassion is not just a thought or feeling that goes away after it has been thought of. Compassion is proactive. It is solving the problems of others or easing their pain because of a deep understanding of their plight; (Psalm 103v8).

It is a known fact that only God can satisfy the needs of the entire human race but God will not come down from heaven to pour His compassion on those who need it. That is why He has chosen vessels like you and I to do what he wants done according to scriptures.

The entire bible talks about how compassionate our God is. Our God is clothed in compassion. He does not retain His anger for long. He is merciful and kind and always ready to forgive and show us mercy when we err because it is His nature. Our God is a compassionate God.

Having read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, I’m in awe of how compassionate, gentle and kind our God is. Even when he was provoked to anger by any of His children, He normally holds back His anger and would eventually forgive them their sins once they repent.
The compassion of the Bible as exemplified by God towards all of His creation is genuine, kind and long-lasting. It can be classified as a suffering together kind of compassion or having deep sympathy.
God is aware that we are all flesh and therefore imperfect and that is the reason for His kindness and compassion towards us. Of course when we fall into error, God will not overlook our errors but once we retrace our steps from the way of ungodliness and come to repentance, He will pick us up again, wipe our slate of sin clean and give us a fresh start.

There is no Sin that is too great for our Heavenly Father to forgive except for the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit of God! And there is no one that is unworthy to be used by God. We are all created to show forth the praise of our God who has brought us out of darkness into His everlasting light.

God does not care where we have been, what we have done, how we did it, when we did it, who it affected etc. All He cares about is that we have repented and given our lives to Christ and are no longer walking in darkness but in His marvelous light.
You might be carrying a load of guilt, you might have stolen, lied, fornicated, prostituted, committed adultery, committed abortion, committed murder, and you are feeling less of a human right now or you are feeling unworthy. It all does not matter. What matters is your heart right now. Once you say the salvation prayer and begin to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, the Lord will be compassionate towards you and He will forgive you all your sins. If you do not cast your pearls before pigs or rubbish His new found glory in the mud by going back to the vomit of sin, you will remain renewed and transformed. The Lord will give you His sweet Holy Spirit who will help you to walk continually with Him in holiness. And the best part of all is that He will grant you eternity. Hallelujah!
Our God is so compassionate that He will give us a new perspective on life. This is because He wants us to perceive life from an eternal perspective. He wants us to have a new value system, a new way of thinking and acting and a new focus.

In order to achieve this, we must not dwell on our past or feel guilty about what we did in the past. We must not also dwell on what someone did to us in the past because the past is the past. It is dead and buried. We must bury the past and move on. We must forgive those that have wronged us just like God in His genuine compassion forgave us all our sins; we must therefore forgive others their sins so that we can have peace with ourselves and with God.
This attitude of God should therefore be the model upon which we must base our compassion. If we clothe ourselves with compassion just as our God does, we will be more like Him in our attitude and will become more approachable, reliable, humble, sympathetic, grateful, discerning just like He is and above all, we will become usable for God’s service.

God in His compassion gave up His only begotten son as the propitiation for our sins. Christ did not only die to pay for our sins. He also died to clear our consciences. We must therefore forgive ourselves and stop carrying the load of sin. We must also be willing to forgive others their sins. (1 John 1v9, Psalm 103v12, Hebrews 7v12).

The urgent need for compassion
Our Lord and personal savior Jesus Christ showed God’s compassion to everyone He met on His journeys. His entire ministry was a ministry of compassion because He was a conveyor of divine compassion.

If we look around us, we will see that there are a lot of people who need compassion, care and attention. We must do our best to help them according to our capacity rather than telling them to wait for heaven’s help. We are the children of the Kingdom that God has chosen and selected to help others during their times of need.

The Scriptures reveals to us that God is the model to follow because of His great compassion for humanity. He loves us so much that He gave us Jesus who in turn laid down His life so that we all can have eternal life (John 3v16).

As believers therefore, we should show concern for the needs of others and be willing, ready and available to help them in times of need.

We must clothe ourselves with the garment of compassion and a humble heart that will be willing to show kindness, gentleness and patience. To this we must also add love which is the bond of perfection and the greatest of them all; (Colossians 3v12-14, 1 Corinthians 13v130).

Let’s look at some examples of compassion according to scriptures.

1. Matthew 14v16-21; Jesus fed the multitude out of compassion. He fed five thousand people.
2. Matthew 14v14-15; Jesus healed the sick out of compassion.
3. Matthew 15v32-39; Jesus had compassion on the multitude and fed four thousand.
4. Luke 7v11-17; Jesus was sensitive and compassionate to the widow of Nain and He healed her son.
5. Mark 1 v 41-42; Jesus was moved with compassion when He healed the leper.
6. Hosea 11v8-9; God was compassionate to the people of Israel. He could not bring Himself to destroy them.
7. Jeremiah 21v20; God reassured His people of His continued compassion for them.
8. Zechariah 10v6; Although God is a righteous judge of iniquities, He was compassionate towards His people. He vowed to bring them back from exile and restore them to a position that will seem like they were never rejected by Him.

Types of Compassion

1. Zero Compassion: This is a situation where we see a person in need but ignore them, we do not show any form of compassion and do not render any assistance whatsoever. We either just ignore them or totally avoid them; Luke 10 v30-31; the account of the priest who saw the man in need and avoided him.
2. Sympathetic compassion: This kind of compassion only empathizes with a person in need but it does nothing to alleviate their suffering: Luke 10v32; the account of the Levite who saw the man in need, looked at him, which means he verified that he needed help but did nothing to help him.
3. Action compassion: This kind of compassion empathizes with the person in need and it involves taking the necessary step to alleviate their suffering; Luke 10v33; the account of the Samaritan who did not only show compassion but took the necessary steps to alleviate the victim’s suffering.

Bible verses on Compassion;

1. Deuteronomy 30v3:That the Lord Your God will bring you back from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you.
2. Psalm 78v38-39: But He, being full of compassion forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. Yes many a time He turned His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath; for He remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again.
3. Psalm 86v15; But You oh Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
4. Psalm 111v4; He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.
5. Psalm 145v8; The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy.
6. Isaiah 49v15-17; can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See I have inscribed you on the palm of my hands; your walls are continually before me. Your sons shall make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste shall go away from you.
7. Jeremiah 12v15; Then it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them and bring them back, everyone to his heritage and every man to his land.
8. Lamentations 3v31-33; For the Lord will not cast us off forever. Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.
9. Micah 7v18-19; who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities.
10. Matthew 15v32; Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, I have compassion on the multitude because they have now continued with me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.
11. Matthew 20v32-34; So Jesus stood still and called them and said what do you want me to do for you? They said to Him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.
12. Luke 7v12-13; and when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, do not weep.
13. Luke 10v30-34; A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him and departed leaving him half dead. Now by chance, a certain priest came down that road and when he saw him passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived, at the place came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came where he was and when he saw him, had compassion and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and he set him on his animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him.
14. Luke 15v20; And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion on him and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
15. Romans 9v14-16; what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, I will have mercy on who I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on who I will have compassion. So then, it is not of him who wills or of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.
16. 1 John 3v17; But whoever has this world`s goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
17. Jude 1v21-22; Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
18. Hebrews 5v1-2; For every high priest taken among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.
19. Hebrews 10v32-34; But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great suffering with struggles: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
20. 1 Peter 3v8-9; Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

Prayer!
Dear Heavenly Father, please fill us with compassion and love for those in need. Help us to be kind, gentle, generous, loving, giving and forgiving. Help us to see others the way you see them and be willing to help them through their trials. Let humility invade our souls and propel us to be compassionate in our dealings with strangers, the needy and the oppressed in the society, in Jesus Mighty Name! Amen! Trillion Amen!
Shalom!