Compassion
Put On… – Part II
Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:8-17
Key Verse: Colossians3:10
Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him.
I ended yesterday’s devotional with a passage of Scripture from Luke 17:7-10:
“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey Me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”
Jesus knew that many, if not all, of His followers could feel entitled to God’s blessings because they were obedient to His commands or fought off temptation. I suppose it is natural that we humans think this way, but it is not God’s Kingdom way!
Believers know that God saves them by faith in Jesus and that it is ONLY by God’s unmerited favor (grace) that they can stand in God’s presence. Out of deep gratitude, believers see it as their duty to obey His teachings, mainly because they believe in the wisdom of God.
But even if we cannot see His wisdom in some of His teachings, we still obey out of desire to honor Him!
Giving compassion for others around us is part of that duty. Compassion is an attitude of generosity that does not question whether a person is worthy. God calls us to love Him and to love others around us with a generosity that cannot be only for those we consider worthy.
The only way to truly understand this is to daily remind ourselves how generous God is to us. Jesus taught this principle in Matthew 7:2:
“For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged”.
Every time I start to get a stingy attitude toward my wife or those around me, the Holy Spirit is faithful to remind me how generous God has been to me when dealing with my failures!
We do not get through many days without an opportunity to show generosity to someone who has come up short of our expectations. How many times a week do you either get disappointed by someone or have your feelings hurt by someone?
We all get disappointed or hurt. Ask God to help you remember that these are opportunities to “pay forward” to others what God has done for you!
Father, I am so grateful for Your generous love and faithfulness to me. Please remind me of this whenever I start to get stingy in my love and forgiveness to others. In Jesus’s Name I pray, amen.