Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
(Mat 18:27)
For the past few days I believe that God has been dealing with me on compassion. He put me in situations when I needed compassion and situations where I was to have compassion. But in both situations there was none. I believe that compassion is one of the most over looked and under rated things that we can have as Christians. The scripture above comes from a parable that Jesus told about a king who went to collect from his servant but, one servant didn’t have the money to give him and he begged for more time. The king had compassion for him and forgave his debt. He didn’t just give him time but he wiped his debt clean. He had true compassion! Let’s take a look at what compassion is. The definition of compassion is: sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.
When I read this definition it reminded me that over the past few days the things I read on Facebook in people’s statuses that totally lacked compassion. The saddest thing about this was that the majority of the things put up there were from Christians. We as Christians, and I am guilty of this too, because we are on a quest to win people for the Lord and to save them from damnation we like to tell the “truth”. So we say things that are right but they lack the compassion that they should be delivered in. I was having a conversation one day about something and this person was telling me some true things about myself. Sadly to say I didn’t receive them well. It wasn’t what was being said but there was a lack of compassion when they were said. Because it was something that was true about myself for me to admit it was hard to swallow. But the lack of compassion made it unbearable. With no compassion I wasn’t even in a position to receive what was being said. But, the lack of compassion that I had on how difficult it was for the person to say the things could have changed the whole outcome.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
(Pro 18:21)
Here’s a situation where there was compassion. For those of you who don’t know I am also a professional musician, so a few years ago I was playing on a major outdoor festival. The act that went after us half of the band road together and they were late. They missed sound check and even the first song on the show. Now when they got there I noticed the band leader leave the stage went over and gave the guys hugs said I am glad you made it here safely. Next time try to leave a little earlier so you don’t get caught in traffic and we can start on time. I have no idea why they were late and if they had gotten stuck in traffic but the band leader had compassion for whatever the situation was. That stuck with me for years because he had every right to tell them the truth just like it was but he had a sympathetic consciousness of their situation. He got the truth across to them about leaving early and getting there on time but he used compassion.
Not only must we have compassion in what we say but in how we act also. Having compassion is the very thing that can turn a person to Christ or the lack of compassion can turn that person away. I have known people who have left the church because of the lack of compassion that was shown to them. In the beginning of this parable Jesus says:
Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
(Mat 18:23)
If the kingdom of heaven is like this king who had compassion on his servant are we really being kingdom minded when we don’t have compassion for one another. I pray that God continues to work compassion on you as well as myself. I pray that our lives will be examples of compassion that are contagious and cause people to run to Christ and change their ways.
God Bless and stay in the Race,
Pastor Jonathan Roundtree