Moved by Compassion
“But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight.”
There are probably lots of very academic answers to explain why the Samaritan traveler was different from the priest and the Levite, but my guess is simple. Scripture says that the Samaritan was moved by his compassion - so that’s my guess.
The Samaritan’s service to this man, his ministry towards this man, and his mission for this man flowed from compassion. Without compassion, he probably would have walked right by the man just like the others. But he didn’t. He allowed himself to be moved by compassion, and, like the Samaritan man,
We must allow ourselves to be moved by compassion.
If our missions, if our ministries, and our acts of service are about anything other than compassion, we’re missing the mark. Our love for our fellow man MUST be at the root of our service. Otherwise, we’re clanging gongs (1 Cor 1:13), and we’ve really got to check our intentions.
For most of us, it’s so easy to slip into a performance mindset. In some ways, it’s easier to figure out numbers than to walk with people. But our ministries, missions, and acts of service can’t afford to be driven by anything other than love.
We must allow our compassion to propel us.
If we don’t - our generosity will be soured. It will move from something beautiful (love) into something ugly (pride). Suddenly, it will be about how great we are or how people see us. It will be all about our status and position and abilities - instead of the person in front of us and the people we are serving.
Pride is an ugly thing and hard thing. It’s very stubborn - it doesn’t like to cede territory. That’s why…
We have to hang on to love.
If we want the One who is love to be at the center of our missions and ministries, if we want pride to take a backseat, we have to let Him and His love be at the center of our intentions. We’ve got to hold tight to the love we have for the ones we serve.
God wants to partner with us; it’s true! He wants to involve us because He loves us, but He also wants this partnership to bring glory to His Kingdom - not just to our egos. When we focus on anything other than love for the ones we’re serving, we’re going to fail. But when we function out of love, we’re collaborating with Him - we’re partnering with Him. And when we partner with Him who is love, we are partnering with love. We are partnering with compassion.
We must allow ourselves to be moved by compassion, time and time again.
We must have the courage to love deeply the ones we serve. We have to let ourselves feel for the men and women we serve. We have to stay connected to the ones we care for. Because - if we don’t know the ones we serve, how can we love them?
We need to feel their pain, listen to their stories, do the things they love to do, bring Christ into their circumstances, and BE Christ to them because they need Him so much more than they need you and me. He is the most compassionate and the most generous of us all.
And when we lead with love,
we lead with Christ.
So let’s encourage our hearts to be moved with compassion. Let’s have the courage to love deeply. Let’s have the courage to see the needs of the people around us.
Let’s be bold enough to simply love people with our ministries and missions and acts of service - let’s stop with duty and start with love. Let’s keep it simple - just allow yourself to love, to be moved by compassion for others.
Father,
Oh we need Your help, Father. Soften our hard hearts, and help us to be moved by compassion for Your people.
We love You. We need You. Show us the way.