Compassion
Matthew 14:14, “And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and He healed their sick.”
It is often recorded in Scripture that Jesus was moved by compassion. We are told in this verse that after the disciples of John had come to Him and told Him that their master (John) had been beheaded--that he had been put to a cruel death, He (Jesus) went out into a desert place, and the multitude followed Him, and that when He saw the multitude He had COMPASSION on them, and healed their sick.
Each week as I look out across the congregation, I think that if Jesus were here today, standing in my place, His heart would be moved as He looked into their faces, because He could also look into their hearts and read the burdens and troubles and sorrows they have to bear. They are hidden from my eye, but He knows all about them. When the multitude gathered around Him, He knew how many weary broken and aching hearts there were there.
He is not only present every time we gather to worship, but there is not a sorrow, trouble, or affliction which any of us endure that He does not know all about it; and He is the same today as He was when he was here on this earth—the same Jesus, the same Man of Compassion.
When He saw the multitude He had compassion on them and healed their sick. My prayer is that He will heal the sin-sick, will bind up broken hearts of those to whom I minister each week. He came into the world to bring mercy, joy, compassion and love. I pray that following His example, I will be a man of mercy, joy, compassion and love.
Many years ago I heard the saying, “Hurting people hurt people.” I have observed that is true. We sometimes either consciously or subconsciously do not feel it is fair for others to “have it all together” when our own world is broken, so we assume things about them that just aren’t true. We think we know their heart, their motive, but we do not and cannot, for only God knows their heart. If we really knew, that person who seems to “have it all together” might be struggling just as much or more than we are; or maybe he has chosen to live above the circumstances of his life, and do the right thing each and every day, living in the mercy, joy, compassion and love of Jesus.
Make a commitment to be a person of Compassion.
Father God,
Before I judge another’s motives, may I remember that only you know the heart. Help me to always believe and think the best of others, knowing that I do not know their circumstances.
May I receive the criticism of others in a way that I consider that they might be hurting and lashing out because of their hurt. If I must err, I pray that it will be on the side of mercy, joy, compassion and love.
In Jesus name I pray. Amen
