Day 31: Showing Compassion to Others
Ephesians 4:32
I have been learning the importance of loving my enemies. It’s easy to love those we have a mutual love for, who think like us, or have a personality that we enjoy hanging out with. On the other hand, the commandment to love our enemies isn’t quite as easily obtained.
As we focus on the family this week, I think of not only my immediate family but also the family of God. Within both family units, there are members who are difficult to love, perhaps because they have hurt, disappointed, or offended us. The commandment to love our enemies still holds true. Allowing my heart to become tender with a deeper understanding of walking in their shoes, seeing the situation through their perspective, and feeling the pain that I have caused the one who feels like an enemy is the beginning of loving them as Christ loves us.
Practicing intentional compassion begins with noticing the hurt, especially the hurt that we have caused. Compassion grows when we allow ourselves to sit in the pain with the person we have hurt without trying to fix it. Sitting with them validates the pain, and we will find our ability to feel compassion growing.
Let’s pray that we are a family who desire to love our enemies.
Reflection Prayer
Father, we thank You that You are our perfect example as a God of compassion. Relationships and families are Your idea. You desire that we are kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted, compassionate, and understanding, forgiving one another readily and freely, just as God in Christ has forgiven us. With You living in us, we have the Holy Spirit’s power to love others with the same heart of compassion, mercy, and grace that You have bestowed on us. We pray for Your strength to truly love one another. In the powerful name of Jesus, amen.
Week 5: Family Now
In week 5, we’ll celebrate the reality that we are all part of the same Body, all part of the family of God.
