Day 13 Compassion

BE STILL Spend 2 minutes in stillness and silence with God

SCRIPTURE for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23

DEVOTION

Tug of war is one of my favorite games that not only tests our strength, but our ability to work together as a team. The high-energy shouts of “pull!” and “lean!” from the crowd are also a fun plus. Imagine those heels digging into the ground, bodies leaning so far back they’re nearly horizontal, and the rope burn that seems to be in everyone’s near future. And have you played the game tug of war in the mud?! That adds a completely new (and very messy) element to the game. Whether mud or no mud, rope burn or no rope burn, tug of war is a classic game that can be fun for all.

Honestly, our relationships can sometimes mirror the game of tug of war, especially when in times of conflict. Think of conflict as the rope. We pick it up, choose our side, dig our heels in, lean our bodies, and pull as hard as we can to “win.” Our “teammates” are the list of reasons why our opinion in the conflict matters most, and they’re all lined up behind us pulling. Maybe we pull so hard that we get rope burn or the other team falls flat on their faces. The tough part about this kind of tug of war is that if we don’t play fairly, it can leave behind a pain that is far greater, deeper and longer lasting than we could ever have imagined.

Now let’s think about what would happen if when conflict arose, we took a moment and paused instead of pulling our ends of the rope to “win.” What if we acknowledged the other person’s “teammates” and sympathized with what was driving them to pull? What if we created a space where they could even share the names of their “teammates” and how they got there? What if, even if we don’t agree, we put ourselves in their shoes? What if we paid less attention to pulling the rope so that we could win, and more attention to the human being in front of us? That is compassion.

Before we keep going, I want to note for us what compassion is not. Compassion does NOT mean we don’t speak up for ourselves when someone has wronged us. Compassion does NOT mean we allow a person to repeatedly harm us physically, mentally, or emotionally. Compassion does NOT mean our feelings are unimportant or invalidated. Compassion does NOT mean conflicts won’t occur.

Remember that “hurt people, hurt people.” If we can be honest, when someone does the unthinkable towards us compassion is probably the last thing in our minds. However, when we take our eyes off the circumstance and onto the person, we may be able to see their brokenness staring back at us. As we grow in God, compassion helps us to understand how someone’s actions towards us a result of their own trauma, hurts, and pains may be that still need to be touched by the hand of God.

While this example focuses on conflicts, compassion should be our driving force in loving one another at all times. That is what helps our relationships thrive. Now let’s talk about what compassion is. Compassion helps to soften our hearts towards others. Compassion helps us extend grace and mercy where we otherwise wouldn’t.

Compassion is the precursor to forgiveness. Compassion is having understanding without judgment.

Compassion can save lives. Compassion can heal and restore. Compassion can foster deeper connections with others. Compassion can look like dropping your side of the rope, standing behind the other person, and pulling with them as they fight their demons on the other side. Compassion is seeing someone else in their humanity, knowing that we all fall short of the glory of God.

Who in your life can you give more compassion towards? Is there anything that makes giving compassion difficult for you to do? Why?

PRAY IT OUT

God, I thank You for being compassionate towards me. You truly are a gracious and righteous God who is full of compassion! Thank You that even when I have been afflicted, your compassion still shines on me. I pray for my friends, family, co-workers, church members, and other people in my life to extend compassion and grace to me. I am not perfect, and I acknowledge that neither are they. Because I wish for them to treat me this way, I choose to give the same compassion towards them.

As Your Child and one of Your chosen people, I choose to clothe myself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. I admit that I am not always compassionate towards others, especially those who have hurt me. I choose to forgive those people who have hurt me, just as You have forgiven me. Help me to extend compassion towards [name of person(s)] and forgiveness towards [name of person(s)]. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Scripture References

Colossians 3:12 Isaiah 49:13

Psalms 116:5 Ephesians 4:32

Matthew 7:12