Have a Compassionate Heart
All through the Gospels we read that wherever Jesus went He was moved with compassion for people. When He saw the multitudes, He had this deep inward moving of love to heal the sick and feed them miraculously. He had compassion on the widow who was weeping for her dead son and raised him from the dead (Luke 7:14). Two blind men heard that Jesus was passing by and cried out, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" (Matthew 20:30), and Jesus stopped in His tracks, called them, and looked them right in their faces. They couldn't see Him, but I bet they could feel His compassion as He touched their eyes and healed them.
Compassion is powerful. Jesus didn't just feel sorry for those in need. He didn't say, "Oh well, that's too bad." No, His compassion moved Him to action. In the same way, 1 John 3:17 says about us, "If anyone…sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live in him?" We all have a heart of compassion that God wants to work through toward others, and it can either be open or shut. If it is shut off, God's love cannot flow out of it, which I believe is the reason some of us are unhappy today. We've closed our heart of compassion. If we're going to live the abundant life that God has given us, we need to stir up our heart of compassion and say, "God, open my heart and my eyes to see the people who need my love today."
Sometimes we get so busy with our own lives that we forget the people around us who may need something from us. He wants to flow through us to other people and use us as an instrument of His love, to be His hands and feet to them. But we're never going to be that until we begin to understand that we are directed to follow this love and let it guide us. This compassion is from God and has miracle-working power in it. He wants you to release your influence, your power, your love on this earth.
When you feel compassion moving in you toward someone, you never know the impact of what a phone call can do or the significance of your words when you say, "Hey, I'm thinking about you. I care about you. I love you. I'm praying for you." Those simple words of hope can turn someone's life around. Be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Compassion is powerful. Jesus didn't just feel sorry for those in need. He didn't say, "Oh well, that's too bad." No, His compassion moved Him to action. In the same way, 1 John 3:17 says about us, "If anyone…sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live in him?" We all have a heart of compassion that God wants to work through toward others, and it can either be open or shut. If it is shut off, God's love cannot flow out of it, which I believe is the reason some of us are unhappy today. We've closed our heart of compassion. If we're going to live the abundant life that God has given us, we need to stir up our heart of compassion and say, "God, open my heart and my eyes to see the people who need my love today."
Sometimes we get so busy with our own lives that we forget the people around us who may need something from us. He wants to flow through us to other people and use us as an instrument of His love, to be His hands and feet to them. But we're never going to be that until we begin to understand that we are directed to follow this love and let it guide us. This compassion is from God and has miracle-working power in it. He wants you to release your influence, your power, your love on this earth.
When you feel compassion moving in you toward someone, you never know the impact of what a phone call can do or the significance of your words when you say, "Hey, I'm thinking about you. I care about you. I love you. I'm praying for you." Those simple words of hope can turn someone's life around. Be the hands and feet of Jesus.