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I think the best-known verse in the Bible may be, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This truly is amazing love!
But on several occasions, the Gospel writers talk about the compassion of Jesus. This is a different word altogether. The root Greek word is “bowels.” To feel this kind of compassion means to feel it in your gut—to ache with the same pain that is afflicting someone else.
But compassion means more than feeling the pain, it also means going into action to alleviate the pain. True compassion aches and then acts.
Look at the compassion of Jesus—
He sees crowds of people “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” His compassionate response is to pray for His Father to send more shepherds to these sheep (Matthew 9:36-38).
He sees people plagued by diseases—paralysis, deafness, blindness, even death—and He places His hands on them and brings complete healing (Matthew 14:14, 20:34; Mark 1:41, 9:22; Luke 7:11-15).
He notices hungry people and He feeds them (Matthew 15:32; Mark 8:2).
He encounters confused people and He teaches them the illuminating truth (Mark 6:34).
This kind of compassion is costly. It cost Jesus time to be alone, it cost the king, the prodigal father, and the Samaritan money to forgive a debt, lose an inheritance, and pay medical bills. But Christ-like compassion knows there is no greater reward than aching and acting like Jesus.
Christ-like compassion must be extended in faith. Like touching someone with unclean disease, or fasting to receive power to release a loved one shackled to a heavy burden, or embracing someone who hurt me, or canceling a debt owed to me, or helping someone who despises me. When we ache and act like this, we show the love of God in irrefutable ways. Our selfless, Christ-like compassion paints a vivid picture for a skeptical world to see and embrace the love of God that sent His Son to ransom us.
Let’s make it our prayer that we would ache with the needs of the people around us, and then to move in faith-filled, Christ-honoring, selfless action to alleviate that need. Then let us believe that our compassion will show others the love of a Savior.
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I’m a bit of a nut about the exactness of words, so one of my pet peeves is the incorrect use of imply and infer. “Imply” is something I do as the speaker; “infer” is something you do as the listener. Or you might say implying is like throwing and inferring is like catching.
A big problem arises when I infer something that you didn’t imply. Or even worse, when I infer something based on something you didn’t say. People will often say something like this, “Since Jesus didn’t specifically talk about ________ then it must be okay.” In logic, this would be called an argument from ignorance: concluding that an action must be acceptable because it has not been specifically stated to be unacceptable.
Statement #10 in our series asking “Is that in the Bible?” is—Love your neighbor. Is that in the Bible? Yes!
Later on, Jesus would add to this Deuteronomy 6:5—Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength—to answer the question about the greatest commandment of all.
In Leviticus 19, the Hebrew word for love means love in the broadest sense of the word, and neighbor means a friend or a fellow citizen. Unfortunately, the rabbis inferred that someone not a Jew was therefore an enemy and therefore not worthy of love. They further inferred that the opposite of love was hate.
Matthew Henry commented, “They were willing to infer what God never designed.”
Statement #11 is—Hate your enemy. Is that in the Bible? Yes, in the fact that it appears in print in Matthew 5:43, but it doesn’t appear in the Scripture that Jesus knew. It had become so ingrained in the thinking of people that they now assumed it was in the Bible.
In many ways, the Old Testament laws were easier to live out because they were all external and easy to measure, like don’t murder or don’t sleep with someone who isn’t your spouse. But Jesus made it a heart issue—He said lust is the same as adultery and hate is the same as murder.
Jesus also made love for enemies a heart issue. The word He used for love in the Greek is agape—the same word describing God’s love for His enemies in John 3:16—For God so LOVED the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but would have everlasting life.
Jesus said our enemies were really our neighbors and were worthy of sacrificial love because they, too, were loved by God.
Matthew 5:44 is shortened in the NIV and has a footnote explaining that the longer verse was not seen in the earlier manuscripts. But given the fact that Jesus demonstrated everything found in the longer version of this verse, I think we are safe in using it. So let’s look at the response Jesus calls us to from the NKJV: But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.
Here’s what Jesus says it means for us to love our enemies:
(2) Help the haters. Jesus said we are to do those things that are beautiful and excellent—like the Good Samaritan did for his enemy-turned-neighbor (see Luke 10:25-37).
(3) Pray for the persecutors. Talk to God about them; don’t talk to others about them.
This response from Christians toward people whom others would call an enemy is totally unexpected by the world. This unexpected response will begin to draw enemies toward Jesus (1 Peter 2:12). If we will treat enemies and neighbors, they may soon become brothers and sisters in the family of God!
When the world hits us Christians out of hate, let’s respond with unexpected love: blessing those who curse us, helping those who hurt us, and praying for those who persecute us.
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Charles Spurgeon. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Spurgeon” in the search box to read more entries.
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Active Love
True love next shows itself in obedience. … ‘Tis love that makes our willing feet in swift obedience move.’ We can do anything for those we love, and if we love Jesus, no burden will be heavy, no difficulty will be great. We should rather wish to do more than He asks of us and only desire that He was a little more exacting that we might have a better opportunity of showing forth our affection. …
The apostle says, ‘Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth’ (1 John 3:18). Actions speak louder than words, and we will always be anxious to tell our love in deeds as well as by our lips. The true disciple asks continually, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’ (Acts 9:6). He esteems it his highest honor to serve the Lord. …
I believe in an active love that has hands to labor and feet to run as well as a heart to feel, eyes to glance, and ears to listen.
how you can get a free copy of The Shawn Effect [3:53]
Shawn’s parents set him up for success [5:15]
leaders get informed so they can interact with others and stay relevant [6:28]
Shawn demonstrated chivalry and trained young men to be gentlemen [7:53]
leaders don’t need a platform or a big following to be an influencer [8:40]
Shawn shows how leaders love [10:33]
leaders are encouragers [11:37]
leaders are readers and appliers [12:27]
Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.
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I recently shared my book review on the heroic story of the ten Boom family during the Nazi occupation of Holland, as told in the story The Hiding Place. This story is a must-read! Please check out my full book review by clicking here.
These are some quotes from these godly sisters.
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.” —Corrie ten Boom
“Any concern too small to be turned into prayer is too small to be made into a burden.” —Corrie ten Boom
“When Jesus Christ tells us to forgive our enemies, He gives us the power He demands of us.” —Corrie ten Boom
“We must tell people how good God is. After the war, we must go around telling people. No one will be able to say that they have suffered worse than us. We can tell them how wonderful God is, and how His love will fill our lives, if only we will give up our hatred and bitterness.” —Betsie ten Boom
“At that moment when I was able to forgive, my hatred disappeared. … Forgiveness is the key which unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness. What a liberation it is when you can forgive.” —Corrie ten Boom
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” —Corrie ten Boom
“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.” —Corrie ten Boom
“If they can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love.” —Betsie ten Boom, speaking to Corrie about the Nazi prison guards
“We never know how God will answer our prayers, but we can expect that He will get us involved in His plan for the answer. If we are true intercessors, we must be ready to take part in God’s work on behalf of the people for whom we pray.” —Corrie ten Boom
“Holiness is the Holy Spirit, a holy God in my heart, which makes me similar to Jesus.” —Betsie ten Boom
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In The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis writes, “Suffering is not good in itself. What is good in any painful experience is, for the sufferer, her submission to the will of God, and, for the spectators, the compassion aroused and the acts of mercy to which it leads.” This sentiment was never more fully displayed than in the lives of the ten Boom family. Corrie ten Boom relates her story in The Hiding Place.
The ten Boom family had lived in Holland for a couple of generations at the time the Germans occupied their country during World War II. Immediately, their family home and watch repair shop became a hub for underground resistance activity. But the start of this war was not the start of their compassionate activity in their city. The ten Booms lived out their Christian faith in tangible, compassionate ways every single day, and their neighbors reaped the benefits.
The entire ten Boom family was actively involved in the efforts to protect at-risk people during the Nazi oppression of their country, including the elderly and sick, their Jewish neighbors, the mentally disabled, and the young men that were being pressed into duties to support the German war effort. As The Hiding Place progresses, the story begins to zoom-in on two sisters: Betsie and Corrie, especially their activities inside the German prisons and concentration camps in which they were imprisoned.
The miracles that God performed for these women are too many to recount here, but it seems like hardly a page in the story passes before another miracle is seen. These Christian women took full advantage of each miracle and used them to continue to bring light and love into one of the most dark and hateful times in human history. Even after the war has ended and Corrie has returned to her Holland home, the ministry of healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation continued unabated through her tirelessly loving activities.
The Hiding Place is truly a heroic tale! I highly recommend parents and grandparents reading it aloud to their children and grandchildren. May all Christians follow the example of the ten Boom family in finding ways to daily share the love of Jesus to their neighbors-in-need.
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Craig T. Owens 