Sharing CompassionIt is important that we remember as Christians, that the compassion that matters, is that that extends to the people who least deserve it.  I am profoundly interested in teaching my students to extend mercy and grace in the same way that it was extended to us.  The Lord Jesus Christ died to save us when we considered ourselves enemies of God, and unworthy of a gift of that magnitude.  Furthermore, there is nothing that we have been, or will be able to do that could ever make us worthy of the sacrifice that was made on our behalf. 

For the most part, people are willing to extend grace and mercy to their family members, or maybe even a close friend who has offended them, but the fact that some have been hurt so badly by some who had been very close to them, only serves to increase the offence even more.  It is in these moments that grace and mercy are most necessary.  It is when we have been wounded the most that we must share the most grace. 

Over the past few months, I have heard person after person tell me that they have been hurt too badly by someone that they cannot ever forgive them.  I’ve even heard people say they are going to, “Kill someone with kindness.” Neither of these perspectives is healthy because they are focused on damaging the other person.  They are focused on justice, not grace. 

If you say you are going to kill someone that cannot be a healthy form of redemption for the relationship.  Regardless of the scripture you think you are using to justify the statement, you cannot be justified in your attempt to take revenge for yourself.  If your goal is to make someone pay, or even make someone realize the fullness of their wrongs, you cannot gain resolution to your dilemma. 

Furthermore, when a believer says that he/she cannot forgive, they are only illuminating their own selfishness.  For if we have been forgiven of much, should we not also be willing to forgive much?

If this post strikes your heart as heavy-handed or spiteful, it is not because of the material or the post, it is because the Holy Spirit is convicting you of something that is in your life. 

*I was going to site my scriptural references here, but I realized I really don’t have room.  Suffice it to say, these statements are supported by the full weight of the gospel, and the entirety of the Bible.