The Church — a Compassionate Community
For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. — Hosea 6:6
Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another. — Romans 12:10
Author
Dr. Roberto Miranda
Summary: The Lord is never too busy to attend to our needs: we can come to Him with any situation, without thinking it too insignificant. That mercy should also distinguish the way we treat one another. Our churches should be places of refuge, compassion, and healing, open to those who come with dilemmas, brokenness, and imperfections. Our gentleness should be evident to everyone; even when correcting a fault, we should do so gently and remember our own vulnerability. Mindful of our humanity, let us treat those in need with the compassion and grace Christ shows. Let us be a merciful community, like our heavenly Father.
The Lord will never be too busy to attend to our needs. He will never say to us, “Oh, what you are asking me for is too insignificant.” To Him, nothing is too great or too small.
We can come to Him with all our needs, and we ourselves must be people of compassion. We must treat one another with that same mercy.
Our churches must be places of refuge, places of compassion, places of healing, where people can come with any situation or dilemma, whatever it may be.
The Church of Jesus Christ must be a compassionate, merciful community that cares for those in need and treats people in their brokenness and imperfections with the same mercy with which Christ treated that crowd we saw in the previous meditation.
Compassion and grace must be the distinguishing marks of God’s people. That is why the apostle Paul admonishes us: “Let your gentleness be known to all men.” He also says in another passage: “Brothers, when any of you is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, correct him in a spirit of gentleness, watching yourself lest you too be tempted.”
When we are aware of our own humanity, we too can treat others with great compassion and mercy. That must be the distinguishing mark of every believer and every community of faith: the compassion and mercy that Christ Himself shows.
Let us be people of mercy and grace, like our heavenly Father.