A Broken Heart's GPS Christian Counseling and Resource Center (856) 473-5937 lauri@abrokenheartsgps.org

  • Home
    • About >
      • What is Christian Counseling?
      • Our Statement of Faith...What We Believe
    • Lauri McNair, MS
  • Holy Hill
    • "I am_____by Design" Apparel
    • I.M.Maximized
    • Young Lives Matter >
      • Back to School >
        • Back to School Prayer
      • Helping Children Process Grief
      • A Warning for Parents
    • Zoe's Bakery of Hope >
      • The Truth about Chocolate
    • Joyful Melodies w/Abigail
  • Services
    • Articles >
      • Trauma >
        • Overcoming Emotional Incest/Parentification
        • Healing Inner Wounds/Emotionally Orphaned
        • Rejection
        • Shame
        • The Toxic Soul
      • Neuroplasticity and the Renewed Mind
      • The Danger of Pornography
      • The Power of Positivity
      • Offenses, Unforgiveness, and Bitterness
      • Angry with God
      • Prayer >
        • Fill My Cup, Lord
        • Serenity
        • Humility
    • E-counseling
  • Words of Life
    • God's Mighty Power Scriptures
    • Soul Food--Daily Meditations
    • Biblical Decrees
    • Healing Scriptures
    • Faith-building Scriptures
    • Deliverance Scriptures
    • Hope Scriptures
    • Love Scriptures
    • Child-like Faith Scriptures
  • Prayer
    • Prayer of Salvation
    • Testimonies!
    • Prayer Wall
  • Blog
  • Donate

Compassion in the Midst of Pain

11/8/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
"And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”--Mark 12:30-31(NLT)


​Love-- agapao (G25): to be full of good will and exhibit the same, to regard the                                     welfare of, to be fond of, to wish well, to love dearly
​*Strong's Exhaustive Concordance


"Christian love, whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered. Love seeks the welfare of all, Rom 15:2, and works no ill to any, 13:8-10; love seeks opportunity to do good to 'all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith,' Gal 6:10. See further 1 Cor. 13 and Col 3:12-14."
*Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

​If you are a Christian, and have ever gone to church, then you are probably aware of the commandments to love as outlined by Jesus in Mark 12:30-31. 
It is the pillar of our Christian walk.  Yet, a more in depth study of the Scriptures as well as unpacking and defining the  word "LOVE" reveals its depth, and requirements.

​In taking advantage of a teachable moment on kindness, compassion, and love with my daughters, the teachable moment really became mine! In sharing with my girls, the Lord gave me a revelation of Jesus' act of selfless love and compassion in the midst of great personal pain.  I pray that you would receive it:

We know the Crucifixion was God the Father's ultimate expression of love for humanity (John 3:16), right?  We also know that it was a brutal, heinous, painful, and humiliating death.  We further know that Jesus experienced exhaustion and extreme thirst (John 19:25-28). In the midst of all of this, Jesus modeled the type of unconditional love, compassion, care, and desire for another person's well-being.  This is why I love Him!  When one of the malefactors (who was being crucified next to Jesus),  asked Jesus to remember him, Jesus did not ignore him or proclaim that He was having a pretty bad day too.  No, rather he immediately began to minister  to this dying man .  There was no hesitation to offer this man, who was riddled with pain and discomfort, words that would bring comfort, peace, and eternal security (Luke 23:39-43).  ​Jesus' response is our key for living.  He did not respond from a soulish place as we so often do when we are facing personal pain.

Unfortunately, comments like, "I've got problems of my own" or "I'm having a bad day too" do not model the character of Christ.  Further, statements like these are missed opportunities to offer hope and encouragement to a dark and lost world.  A bad day does not exempt us from walking in love and displaying compassion toward our fellow man, nor does it give us a pass to be mean, flippant, indifferent, or unkind.  We are to love our neighbor as ourselves even when it seems inconvenient.  This is what the Body of Christ is called to do. 

Yes, we all have problems, hardships, difficulties, challenges, etc.  There are days when we feel agitated, irritable, funky, overwhelmed, mentally drained, exhausted, and simply want to be left alone. That's real.  We are human. Yet, there is never a time in which we are excused from showing love and being interested and concerned with the well-being of another soul.

​It's a spiritual discipline to model compassion in the midst of pain, but the capacity for us to obey the commandments of Mark 12:30-31 is within us because we have the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16) and we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength (Philippians 4:13)!
0 Comments

    Archives

    November 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Categories

    All

    Picture

    Author

    I am a wife, mother, and Christian counselor who believes that God can heal and restore our broken hearts and put us on the road to wholeness, purpose, and productivity in our lives when we follow and trust his "GPS".

               2022 abrokenheartsgps.org.   856-473-5937    "Finding our way--through God's love."
Photos used under Creative Commons from di.fe88, S.Hart Photography, SFB579 Namaste, Mr.TinDC, fuzzysaurus, Christian Frausto Bernal, Sharon Mollerus, O.S. Fisher, Laurel Fan, Kashif John, Jake.Christopher., ajari, star5112, Transformer18, Steve Slater (used to be Wildlife Encounters), eliduke, jDevaun.Photography, phalinn, pedrosimoes7, he who would be lost, Peter Daniel, Barrett Web Coordinator, DrewTM, katerha, kt.beyondperception, iluvcocacola, US Department of Education, spratmackrel, Strength, 76Winger, ToGa Wanderings, RLEVANS, Kitty Terwolbeck, VinothChandar, miguel_discart_photos, shawnchin, SFB579 Namaste, mrhayata, WestonEyes, quinn.anya, FutUndBeidl, Sapphire Dream Photography, Pink Sherbet Photography, akeg, Cydcor, Ray200260, commanderjaygold, forum.linvoyage.com, mikecogh, frankieleon, Mary Anne Morgan, Macro-roni, armanayva, abodftyh, US Department of Education, eflon, anna gutermuth, iamme ubeyou, Đây chỉ là cái kho chứa hình, mkfeeney, quinet, Bernd Thaller, the_light_house_photography, Denkrahm, LyndaSanchez, honorbound, Gerry Dincher, プらチナ, ajari, SamHawleywood, akio.takemoto, KiltBear, Frank Lindecke, Amy McTigue, E. Krall, B_earth_photos, MarkDoliner, Keira Meira, h.koppdelaney, Nicholas_T, Alex Mueller's Daily Photo, --v, aellin, Mark Illand, torbakhopper, Llima, State Farm