Compassion

I've been finding my heart breaking a lot lately over the way people are treated. Its like compassion-less, judgemental, critical, condemning poision that permeates the soul. It bothers me. It upsets me and I find myself frustrated and weeping for those who are the brunt of it. What on earth am I talking about? For one, gossip. "You won't believe what she did." "I can't stand her. She's a loser." "The world would be better off with out her."Folks,this is unacceptable. UNACCEPTABLE. Not only is this an unacceptable, and inappropriate way to treat someone, but it is heartless. It's not at all how Jesus would treat them, not by a long shot. As followers of Christ, we are to be like Jesus, right? I found myself in the presence of two people having a conversation about a third person, loudly, in public. These two people were speaking such foul words towards another human being. They were down right cruel. I found myself stopping what I was doing and praying for the young lady they were judging, and criticizing. My heart broke for her. I didn't know her and my heart broke for her. Unfortunately, in our culture today that is so media possessed, this happens a lot. Consider Miley Cyrus and Amanda Bynes, for starters. These two young women have made their fair share of mistakes. They've messed up. They've fallen and perhaps even still falling, and yet, where is the compassion for them? I mean, what is compassion anyway? The Bible says that "The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love." (Psalm 103:13) Compassion is free of judgement, condemnation, and criticism. Compassion is devoid of hatred, cutting remarks, and rude comments. To be compassionate toward someone is to be loving, NO, full of love towards someone else. That means laying aside our own opinions and expectations of how they should behave; laying aside our quick uninformative judgements and glib criticisms; and remembering that who we are dealing with is a human being, created in the image and likeness of God - A human being that God loves, and cherishes greatly. Stop for a moment and think about the last person who's actions you may have criticized. What if the tables were turned? What if it was your mistakes, failures, mess ups, hang ups that were displayed for all to see and criticize? What if it was you who were being judged, criticized, and condemned for something you have done. How would you like someone to come to you? To talk about you? Treat you? Chances are not a single one of you would like to be treated the way that the media, which is basically a wolf in sheep's clothing, treats people. Now, I'm not in any way approving of the behaviors of these young women. (Like, it's my "right" to approve of them and what they do in the first place) What I am saying is, behaviors aside, God loves Miley, and Amanda, and the young woman I over heard a discussion about, infinitely more that we can ever imagine. He loves the person he created despite their behaviors. The Bible says in Luke 6:36, "You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge others..." As followers of Christ, that is not in any way, shape or form, a suggestion. It's a command. The truth is, that no matter what you have done. No matter where you have been, God loves YOU infinitely more than you could ever imagine. No matter how many times you have messed up or failed, He still loves you. He's still compassionate towards you. He still longs to have a relationship with you. There is nothing that can ever take his love away from you. Nothing. I want you to think about this the next time you hear someone speaking hatred towards someone else. I want you to think about this the next time you read another headline about what Miley, Amanda, or another actress / musician has done lately. I want you to think about this the next time you make a mistake and find yourself at the mercy of a loving, compassionate God. Would you want to be judged? Would you want to be criticized? Would you want to be condemned? I'm pretty sure the answer is, no. Here is a challenge for you. The next time you feel the urge to judge, criticize, or condemn, why not ask God to help you pray for the person instead? Why not make every effort to be compassionate. Jesus did.