Moving With Compassion

They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.  The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.  The Lord is good to all:  and his tender mercies are over all his works.  

Psalms 145:7-9

We know when we are not demonstrating the Christ-like character of gentleness; when we are sharp with someone because they rubbed us the wrong way, when something is not done the way we felt it should have been done and our reaction is by no means Christ-like.  We know this, but in these things, we also know that we should always react in the manner of our Lord and Savior Jesus.  Knowing, that as believers, everyone is not at the same place we are, we should always move with mercy, grace and compassion,

And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.  Mark 6:34

Gentleness is a distinctive trait of the Spirit of God; 

it is a main attribute of Jesus Christ, 

the Son of God, and today in all believers the Holy Spirit should be seen through gentleness.

Do our words and actions express gentleness to all people, or are we gentle to some but harsh with others? Which then is our real face? Which then is our real self? Let the word of God speak to you through these verses about gentleness.

In the Old Testament God spoke to Elijah and it is remarkable to note this scene as to where God spoke from:  

"The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"   1 Kings 19:11-13 
 

God was not in the powerful wind, was not in the earthquake, and was not in the fire; not in any of these places.  On the contrary, the Almighty God spoke from the "gentle whisper".

Let everyone see your gentleness.  

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Philippians 4:5

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.  Galatians 6:1

Apostle Paul writes this to people who were probably spiritually stronger than the Corinthians were. He instructs the stronger ones within the congregation how to react to another who has not come quite up to their level of Christ-like behavior. Notice that Apostle Paul does not instruct us to fall on them like a ton of bricks: 

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.   Galatians 6:2

He says to restore them with "gentleness," considering our own state, and bear with them.

Notice carefully what Apostle Paul names as the reason for making unity and peace 

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  Ephesians 4:1-3 

There should be value we place on our calling.  If, in our heart of hearts, we consider it of small value, our conduct, especially toward our brethren, will reveal it and it will work to produce contention and disunity. Thus John writes:

"If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?"   1 John 4:20

Apostle Paul next counsels us to choose to conduct ourselves humbly. Humility is pride's opposite. If pride only produces contention, it follows that humility will work to soothe, calm, heal, and unify. He advises us to cultivate gentleness; the opposite of the self-assertiveness that our contemporary culture promotes so strongly. Self-assertiveness is competitive determination to press one's will at all costs.

This approach may indeed "win" battles over other brethren, but it might be helpful to remember God's counsel:   

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.   Proverbs 15:1

 James declares that godly wisdom is 

. . . first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. James 3:17

Apostle Paul counsels that we be patient; likewise, James counsels us to 

. . .let patience have its perfect work.   James 1:4

We often want quick resolutions to the irritations between us, which is certainly understandable since we want to get rid of the burden those differences impose. But we must understand that speedy solutions are not always possible. Interestingly, in Apostle Paul's letter to the Philippians, he does not use his apostolic authority to drive the two feuding women into a forced solution:  

I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.  And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.  Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.  Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:2-7 

Some problems are deeply buried within both sides of the contention, so finally Apostle Paul admonishes us to forbear with each other in love. Essentially, he says to "put up with it" or endure it, doing nothing to bring the other party down in the eyes of others and vainly elevate the self. This is peacemaking through living by godly character. 

Yet another aspect to the believer's duty of peacemaking is our privilege by prayer to invoke God's mercy upon the world, the church, and individuals we know are having difficulties or whom we perceive God may be intervening in their circumstances. This is one of the sacrifices of righteousness mentioned:

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.  Psalm 4:5 

The Bible provides many examples of godly people doing this: 

     Abraham prayed for Sodom and Gomorrah when the division between them and God was so great that He had to destroy the cities. Genesis 18:16-33

      Moses interceded for Israel before God following the Golden Calf incident. Exodus 33:11-14

     Aaron ran through the camp of Israel with a smoking censer (a symbol of the prayers of the saints) following another of Israel's rebellions that greatly disturbed the peace between them and God. Numbers 16:44-50

In each case, God relented to some degree. We may never know in this life how much our prayers affect the course of division or how much others gained as a result of our intercession.  But we should find comfort knowing that we have done at least this much - our prayers combined with gentleness, mercy and compassion were rendered to our God who is  gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.  

(Biblical Studies)

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