Shows Compassion Toward Others

Shows Compassion Toward Others

A HERO’S TALE

Three long days after getting thrown into the sea during his ill-fated journey to Tarshish, Jonah was on dry land again. Finally.

No sooner had Jonah scrubbed himself clean of fish guts than God told him again to warn Nineveh of coming destruction if its people didn’t repent of their sins. This time, Jonah obeyed.

Surprisingly, after hearing Jonah’s message, Nineveh’s king and all the people humbled themselves before God and repented. Disaster was avoided. The city was saved!

You’d think Jonah would’ve been thrilled by this. But he wasn’t. He got mad at God. He angrily told God, “See? I knew this would happen. That’s why I tried to run away in the first place.” Then he even asked God to let him die.

Why was Jonah so heartless toward Nineveh? The Bible doesn’t say for sure, but remember this: Nineveh was one of the most important cities in the Assyrian Empire, and Assyria was the biggest threat to Israel’s safety during Jonah’s lifetime. Jonah probably thought, The more bad that happens to Nineveh (and Assyria overall), the better for Israel.

But God rebuked Jonah for his uncaring attitude and his desire to see more than 100,000 people destroyed. God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?” (Jonah 4:4). The answer was clearly no. Sadly, Jonah lacked a compassionate heart.

DECODING THE MESSAGE

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines compassion as “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” In other words, having compassion means hurting when other people hurt and trying to help fix their problem.

God is a God of compassion. Psalm 103:13 says, “The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.” Yes, God is holy and just and must punish sin, but he mixes those characteristics perfectly with love, mercy, and compassion.

Aren’t you glad God is compassionate? He could have left us to die in our sins (like Jonah wanted for the Ninevites). But instead he saw us wallowing in our rebellion and compassionately reached down from heaven to help us by providing a Savior —his Son, Jesus.

We should follow this example and show compassion toward others. Do you know someone who is hurting? Reach out to that person. Listen to him or her. Give help. In doing so, you’ll heroically show that hurting person the compassion of God.

BATTLE PLAN

There are plenty of ways to show compassion: visit the elderly in a nursing home, send food and supplies to orphans in a developing country, serve in a soup kitchen for the homeless, etc.