{"id":798,"date":"2012-03-03T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-03-03T06:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/03\/living-compassionately\/"},"modified":"2012-03-03T06:00:01","modified_gmt":"2012-03-03T06:00:01","slug":"living-compassionately","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/03\/living-compassionately\/","title":{"rendered":"Living Compassionately"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Weekly Overview:<\/h2>\n<p>In response to knowing the heart of God we are called to share the wonders of his invisible nature with a world in desperate need of him. God has chosen to use us to reveal himself. He\u2019s filled us with the Spirit and empowered us to proclaim the good news of salvation and restored relationship with our Creator. May you discover this week that you were made to share God\u2019s heart. And may you find joy and passion in God\u2019s longing to use you in powerful and unique ways.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Scripture:<\/h2>\n<p><em>\u201cBe kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.&#8221;<\/em> Ephesians 4:32<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"worship\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Worship:<\/h2>\n<h3>Forgiven by Bethel Live ft. Brian Johnson<\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: block; margin: auto auto 30px auto; width: 100%; float:left;\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: block; margin: auto; float: left; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #484846; padding: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -khtml-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/34Tvwff3Ku0?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Devotional:<\/h2>\n<p>One of the most impactful ways we can share God\u2019s heart with others is by living compassionately. To show compassion is to step outside of yourself and love another in times of weakness. And to live compassionately is to posture your heart continually toward giving grace and love to those who need it most.<\/p>\n<p>Very little stirs my heart to God more than compassion. When someone sees me in my imperfection and chooses to love me rather than cast me aside, my affection for them and God is automatically stirred. Oftentimes the world is too busy or self-focused to show compassion. We get too caught up in our plans, our needs, and our image to see the hurting and share God\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n<p>But God is calling us to a life lived humbly and sacrificially. Philippians 2:4 says, <em>\u201cLet each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.&#8221;<\/em> The world is in desperate need of compassion. People need mercy and grace when they fail, show weakness, or are experiencing hard times. God\u2019s heart is to use us that we might show mercy and grace as a reflection of his unconditional love. He\u2019s calling us to be light in the darkness that the world might see in us the compassionate heart of our heavenly Father.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s for this reason Paul writes in Ephesians 4:32, <em>\u201cBe kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.&#8221;<\/em> You can forgive because you\u2019ve been forgiven. You can be kind because your Father has been nothing but kind to you. And you can be tenderhearted because God was so tender in heart toward you. He was so compassionate that he gave his life to free you, empower you, strengthen you, and ground you in his grace and love.<\/p>\n<p>Take time in guided prayer to receive a fresh revelation of God\u2019s kindness, tenderness, and forgiveness. Open your heart and let him transform you to be more like him. Allow his heart to become your own. And live today in response to God\u2019s love by showing compassion to others that they might know the tenderness and mercy of your heavenly Father.<\/p>\n<h2>Guided Prayer:<\/h2>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\n<p><strong>1. Meditate on God\u2019s heart of kindness, tenderness, and forgiveness.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cBut when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.&#8221;<\/em> Titus 3:4-6<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cAnd he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.&#8221;<\/em> Luke 15:20<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cOut of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.&#8221;<\/em> Psalm 130:1-5<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Take a moment to receive the love of God.<\/strong> Open your heart to him and experience his kindness, tenderness, and forgiveness.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Ask God to empower you to show compassion today.<\/strong> Choose to live with your eyes not only set on your needs, but also on the needs of others.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cFinally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.&#8221;<\/em> 1 Peter 3:8<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cPut on then, as God\u2019s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.&#8221;<\/em> Colossians 3:12-13<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The only way we can live compassionately is by abiding in the love of our heavenly Father. 1 John 3:17 says, <em>\u201cBut if anyone has the world\u2019s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God\u2019s love abide in him?&#8221;<\/em> God\u2019s love transforms us. His heart empowers us to live differently. You can abide in the love of God today. You can live filled up with the knowledge of his grace and presence moment to moment and allow him to be your source. Don\u2019t live as if you serve a distant God. Live today in acknowledgement that he is closer to you than your breath\u2014nearer to you than your own skin. The Holy Spirit dwells within you and longs to empower you with his love today. May you live compassionately today and see the lives of others impacted as you reflect the heart of your heavenly Father.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Extended Reading:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Colossians+3&#038;version=ESV\" rel=\"alternate\">Colossians 3<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Weekly Overview: In response to knowing the heart of God we are called to share the wonders of his invisible nature with a world in desperate need of him. God has chosen to use us to reveal himself. He&#8217;s filled us with the Spirit and empowered us to proclaim the good news of salvation and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":636,"featured_media":801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first15"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Living Compassionately<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Weekly Overview: In response to knowing the heart of God we are called to share the wonders of his invisible nature with a world in desperate need of him. God has chosen to use us to reveal himself. 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