New Year- Compassion
Let’s start with compassion. Followers of Christ (of the teachings, the man, the God/man, the savior of the world) know that Jesus Christ was compassionate. Dictionary. com: Compassion- a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.
When Jesus encountered someone (anyone/even the dead) that had been hurt by the fallenness of this world or by sin he had compassion on them. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and other writings all show us that Jesus was amazingly compassionate. He cared about people that others would rather forget about. He cared for people unlike him (he knew we were all alike). He cared for people that were weird, smelly, poor, crazy, handicaped (or whatever label we put on people we dislike the most). Jesus has passion and love for all people. When you don’t even love who you are, he loves you. When you wish harm on the worst people in the world, he doesn’t.
This year I am praying that you and I will all have compassion like Jesus Christ. We can have his compassion. It isn’t just because Jesus is the savior that he can do it, it is because on earth he chose to do it. 2007, a year of compassion?
John