Compassion

I love the account of the woman at the well - it teaches us so much if we have the ears to hear. We are commanded to love one another, sometimes we find that difficult, especially when hurt. Jesus give us the instruction in His Word however and we know that all things are possible through Him who gives us strength. We cannot do it on our own.

com·pas·sion noun \kəm-ˈpa-shən\
Definition of COMPASSION
: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it

Synonyms: commiseration, sympathy, feeling
Antonyms: callousness, coldheartedness, hard-heartedness, heartlessness
Origin:
Middle English, from Anglo-French or Late Latin; Anglo-French, from Late Latin compassion-, compassio, from compati to sympathize, from Latin com- + pati to bear, suffer — more at patient
First Known Use: 14th century

Examples of COMPASSION from Merriam-Websters
He felt compassion for the lost child.
She shows compassion to the sick.
She had the compassion to offer help when it was needed most.

Examples of COMPASSION from God's Word:
Psalm 78:38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

Psalm 86:15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

1 Peter 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

1 John 3:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

Jude 1:14-25

14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

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Over the weekend my almost 17 year old daughter and I were exposed to some hurtful comments regarding death. A movie called "Courageous" has been released to DVD and many people we know have watched it and were giving their "reviews", more than once I heard how sad it was, how good it was, many commendable points, people saying they wanted to see it, didn't want to see it, etc. We all have our opinions - we have borrowed it and will watch it as a family this week. It has been made by a company whom we have enjoyed other movies from and with good, Godly messages and encouragement, we look forward to seeing it!

What we were exposed to were the interesting opinions of death and how its viewed by people and they talk about it without any thinking of whom is their audience or really how deeply death can affect others. At one point someone told my daughter and I, "Death is a part of life and it is sad" I just looked at my daughter and spoke, "yes, it is sad" all the while looking at my daughter who I could see was grieved by the words spoken so lightly by one who has not yet experienced the loss of someone who was a living part of your life in a very vital role, someone so close to you that it hurts to breathe for the loss of them at some points. Yes, death is a part of life, and we will ALL experience it deeply at some point in our lives and we will have comfort and compassion different than we've ever had before in our lives as well as we struggle to get through the fog of sorrow and let the Lord carry us and heal us - in the meantime we are patient and show longsuffering to those who don't quite understand and say hurtful things without thought. It was not intended to harm us, it was just said without thought.

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The above verses have been very helpful to me as the Lord gives us examples to show compassion, patience and love to all. It is easy when we let Him do the leading. We can forgive, move forward and learn from the experience - and with some, callous words come naturally but it is part of their maturing and growing in the Lord, we show them love and patience and ask the Lord to work in them.

It is good for me to learn patience - because of my experience with the loss of someone so close I need to show the faithful ness of the Lord, to say, yes, death is a part of life and yes, it is incredibly sad, but also joyous as one who can testify, who has lived through such a loss, that the Lord is good, faithful, gracious and I am thankful my loved one knew the Lord which can make it less sad with the promise of knowing they are with Jesus - it all takes time, but even at almost three years into this journey, it can hurt my children and I - even words like "I almost had a heart attack when I got on the scales this morning, or Oh! You almost gave me a heart attack! when someone is startled - we, in this family are sensitive to words like that because of the way the Lord decided to take my sweet prince home - we watched someone suffer and die from a heart attack, we don't find it humorous in any way shape or form, but generally the person speaking doesn't know it and has no thought to harm or hurt, they are just ignorant of such information and it is something society along the way has found funny to express in a new way. We move in grace and love and rely on our Lord to heal those cuts and barbs and to bind us up to not be so sensitive. All with the Lords help.

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It has made me also think of what I am going to say before I say it - it is a good habit to get into and to teach our children to think about as well. And again, as the account of the woman of the well also teaches us - those without sin cast the first stone, did anyone? No, because none of us are without sin - we are all sinners in need of a Savior and in need of correction and reproof, mercy and compassion ♥