In my Romans study last Fall I came across Romans 12:15:

I feel like God told me that this is what compassion is – being happy with friends who are happy and being sad when my friends are sad.

This is hard for me and doesn’t come naturally to me. My first response to news is to think of next steps or what I would do in the same situation. I can be very pragmatic about things sometimes.

Recently Daniel needed some compassion from me and I wasn’t very quick to give it. He was struggling to finish work before Christmas and wasn’t happy that he couldn’t finish on time. My response, “Well, you are going to do what you are going to do and I am going to get done what I can.” Needless to say this didn’t go over well. He just wanted me to be sympathetic to his situation. I felt like there wasn’t anything I could do for him other than leave him alone to get his work done. Which then meant I had to get ready for Christmas the best I could alone with the kids. It was just how the situation was. Later, I realized my error and apologized.

You know those two little scriptures at the end of the wonderful Psalm 139 that say:

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Well, I think this is a pretty scary thing to pray. I am always afraid God would show me what is offensive in me in front of a large group of people. Thankfully, he didn’t do that and told me in my quiet times. I need to be more compassionate. Jesus was compassionate and I need to be more like Him.

So this is my new word for the year – Compassion. I will be working on it with every opportunity. I am human and may not get it all this year, but at least I know I am in His will trying to be more like Jesus.