A World Without Compassion

In Luke chapter 7, Luke records that as Jesus and his diciples were passing through the village of Nain, they came upon a funeral procession. A boy had died, the only son of a poor widow. Luke writes that when Jesus saw this....."his heart overflowed with compassion". He looked at the woman and said,"Don't cry."; then walked over and raised the boy from the dead and returned him to his mother. -Lk. 7:11-15

I walk out the door of my apartment every day and there are many whom I greet before even getting to my car. Very seldom do I think in ways of compassion toward them. Jesus' compassion for others was a driving force of his ministry. I am so caught in what I have to do, I fail to think of how God might use me to compassionately minister even to the stranger next door. Isn't it sad that I would have to use...."stranger" and "next door" in the same sentence?

We all were built, formed, with a need to be loved and to love, a need to relate to others. Can you imagine for a moment if our world was void of compassion? Who would man our hospitals, who would forge a path to feed the hungry, or house the homeless? Who would fight for those who are simply helpless to help themselves?

What would a lack of compassion be like in your corner of the world? No one to care for you when you were sick, to comfort you when you were grieving, to encourage you when you were down? How sad it would be to live in such a world.

God made us to relate to others just as he made us to relate to him. It is necessary for our well being. It goes against the nature of our need when we choose to go it alone. When we go against that grain we are people most miserable. We are most alive when we care for others and we act on that concern. Being involved in the lives of others is one primary reason our lives have purpose and meaning.

Many in my life I love dearly, many that I love I have failed......for years living as if I was the only one who existed. But praise God regardless of the past, every day can be a new beginning. I am praying and asking him for the gift of a compassionate heart....so filled that when I see a person in need, that compassion overflows out of me just as it did out of Jesus.

How is it with you? Need to pray that same prayer? Know anyone around you that needs to be shown some compassion. For us in recovery, expressing compassion to others is a powerful weapon against the selfishness we often fight. I support you in making your world a world filled with compassion.