Compassion

October 11, 2020
Randy Hageman

WWJD (What Would Jesus Do)? > HWLF (He Would Love First)!

We love because he first loved us. —1 John 4:19 (ESV)

There are so many folks to be concerned about, and it can feel so

.

Theories About Why Social Media Causes Compassion To Struggle:

1) Many forms of social media make us more

with ourselves.

2) Constantly using social media conditions us to care less about others because we become

over time.

3) Social media presents its content as if all messages are

.

4) Technology can lead us to care less because we don’t have to interact

with others as often.

We need to understand that love gets involved – love has

.

compassion – to be moved as to one’s bowels. —(splagchnizomai, Greek)

Compassion is more than an emotion or feeling – real, biblical compassion demands

on our part.

Each time the Bible tells us Jesus experienced “compassion,” he

something.

When [Jesus] went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. —Matthew 14:14 (ESV)
When [Jesus] went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. —Mark 6:34 (ESV)
And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise.’ And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. —Luke 7:13-15 (ESV)
Jesus: ‘But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.’ —Luke 10:33-34 (ESV)

To say we care and then actually do nothing is

caring.

In many cases, the more we focus on social media, the more our focus is on

and the less we genuinely care, as the Bible shows, for others.

The more I focus on

– getting to know him, follow him, serve him – the less focused I am on me and the more I care for others.

John the Baptist: ‘He must increase, but I must decrease.’ —John 3:30 (ESV)

As I look at how Jesus lived his life, and when I allow his life and words to seep into me so that I don’t just acknowledge them but allow them to challenge me and my life and values, I begin to

.

Jesus: … ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’ —Matthew 16:24 (ESV)

Questions To Reflect On:

- When was the last time I gave an hour to

someone else?

- When was the last time I really gave

to a need or a cause or a ministry in such a way that I actually felt it?

- When was the last time I gave up doing something I wanted to do, in order to

that time in someone else?

When people are becoming more like Jesus, their lives are less and less about

.

When I listen to God and do what He wants, I often discover God

me and

Reveal Answer

others through me.

It’s become easier and easier to be nothing more than be a

in church.

Not only do others suffer when the church, as the people of God, fails to act, but our

suffer, too, as we drift further and further away from being like Jesus.

Doing nothing is our default position, and that becoming more like Jesus and showing genuine compassion to others requires a

decision and

Reveal Answer

on our part.

True compassion

us something.

Jesus would first love, and he would do it by getting

, by

Reveal Answer

another, regardless of their response.

Next Week: Integrity