Christopher Sercye was playing basketball with his friends on May 16, 1998 when he was shot in the chest, and a bullet perforated his aorta. His friends helped him get to within forty feet of the entrance to Ravenswood Hospital and then went inside and asked for help. The hospital staff refused to help Christopher saying that it was against the hospital’s policies to administer aid to those outside the hospital. Eventually a policeman was able to get a wheel chair and wheeled Christopher into the hospital where he was helped by the hospital staff. It was too late, Christopher died about an hour later.
Many times we’re surrounded by people that desperately need compassion, but we ignore them because we’re too focused on our own needs. We’re to busy to help someone else.
Ephesians 4:32 says, Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
From this passage, we can see 3 important traits that we need to extend to others. Kindness, compassion, and forgiveness
Let’s look at the first trait,
Kindness-Rather than revenge, Jesus calls us to bless our enemies, knowing that through kindness, we can soften hearts.
It is easy to get irritated at people, throw them under the bus, argue, fight, blame, or just plain ignore em, but Jesus emphasizes mercy, patience, love, and kindness to everyone.
Friends are easy to love, but we are called to be a friend to the friendless.
Kindness is selfless, compassionate, and merciful
Love your neighbor; show kindness to EVERYONE.
For a perfect example of Biblical kindness, all we have to do, is look at the example of Jesus.
Know, let’s look at
Compassion-The New Oxford American Dictionary defines compassion as “a sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.”
That’s very well put, but t
The Bible doesn’t explain compassion like a dictionary does, just telling us what the word means. Instead, the Bible defines compassion by showing us what compassion looks like and what’s involved with being compassionate.
For instance, Proverbs 31:8-9, tells us “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” —
Author Fredrick Buechner describes what it means to have compassion in this way:
“Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else’s skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.”
To have compassion means to empathize with someone who’s suffering and to feel the need to help them.
Know we look at forgivness
A lot of people treat forgiveness as a form of therapy. It’s a way of moving on. It’s a form of personal healing. This is not what Jesus taught. Jesus taught us to forgive as we have been forgiven.
I have heard people say things like, “I forgive, but so and so still needs to pay for their sin”; “I forgive, but they have to deal with the consequences”; “I forgive, but I will never let them forget”; and “I forgive, but they had better show themselves worthy of forgiveness.” This is not what Jesus taught.
To many Christians, forgiveness sounds like a nice thing to do, but there has to be a limit. We can’t expect to forgive people for the same sins all the time, can we? If people are truly repentant, won’t they just stop committing that specific sin?
Listen carefully as Jesus explains forgiveness, and how to handle conflict
. (Matt. 18:15–22)If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times
Jesus’ point is simple. We must forgive, all the time, not just when there’s something in it for us. People will sin against us all the time. We will sin against others all the time. Just as God forgives us all the time, we are to forgive others all the time.
So there you go, now you have the basics down for how others should be treated. Basically, it’s how we want to be treated. Now go and put it into practice…J
Pastor Mike Says 