“Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few’” (Matthew 9:35-37). According to Merriam-Webster (“Compassion.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.), compassion means, “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” “Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, ‘If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed’” (Mark 1:40-41). Compassion is feeling someone’s distress and the desire to do something about it. What is desire but a strong feeling with a strong intent to do something?

The Lord has been talking with me about the doctrines of mankind filtering into the church as God’s word. One such doctrine is that we cannot base our actions on emotions and feelings. Where does that teaching come from? Have we not read, “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ” (Ephesians 4:17-20). Jesus based His feelings on real events and took action based on both events and feeling. He had compassion and it moved Him. The distress was real and so were the feelings that moved Him. So why are so many Christians teaching that to follow Christ we must get past feelings?

Too often we hear a message from someone that we trust, that sounds logical and they quote some scripture to support some of what they are teaching, and we buy everything they say. Then it gets talked around by others that also buy into what was said. The next thing you know we have doctrine being taught as truth that is contrary to truth. Doctrines of mankind are being taught as the doctrine of Jesus Christ. When that happens we start turning away from someone that is telling us the truth, because it is contrary to the doctrines of mankind being taught as Christ. But you have not so learned Jesus Christ.

You cannot learn truth from a half truth. There is one that comes to destroy. If the one, that comes to destroy, can destroy our understanding of God’s word he can stop our healing. “For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them” (Matthew 13:15). The opposite of that is:

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD
(Luke 4:18-19)

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). Have compassion, even on your enemy.

© 2006, 2017 Tim D. Coulter Sr.