LIFE SCRIPTS

for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
Matthew 25:35‭-‬36 NKJV

…but how did the righteous live their lives on earth? How did they treat Christ’s elect and His brothers, the Israelies? Compassion was one of Christ’s defining attributes when dealing with people. The righteous as Christ’s followers must also show compassion on others. The righteous fed the hungry, clothed the homeless, visited the imprisoned and did many good things to others.
Compassion is an attribute that defines true believers. Compassion is not selfish but always looks into the interests of others. True compassion:

1. True compassion steps out of its comfort zone (I was a stranger and you took me in).
   Can we put our lives on hold for others? Can we go out of our way for the sake of those we do not know? The parable of the good Samaritan is an exemplary piece that displays what stepping out of our comfort zone means. Even though the road was evidently dangerous, the Samaritan, stopped and attended to the one in need. True compassion calls on us to stop in the haste of our activity and attend to those in need around us.
2. True compassion cares about the physical needs of others (I was hungry, you gave me food; I was thirsty, you gave me a drink; …I was naked, you clothed me).
   It is amazing what a shirt or a trouser can do for one who’s homeless. It’s amazing what a 100 shillings can do for one who’s hungry and thirsty. Yet such amounts of resources are pocket change to some of us. We are uncomfortable with buying bread for that homeless kid but are comfortable with buying tones of junk food and waste half of it…we are not comfortable with giving out our designer sneakers to the homeless man but are so engrossed into buying more pairs if shoes we’ll not use. Compassion on the physical needs of others starts with noticing that God has given us all we need but not all we greed for. It begins with realizing that the resources He’s blessed us with are not for ourselves alone but for others. This is the way His kingdom will come on earth as it is in Heaven.
3. True compassion attends to the suffering (I was sick, you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me).
   There is something about suffering that isolates and humiliates. However, men and women of compassion always find space to join with those suffering and give them hope. Men and women of compassion always seek for opportunities to build up and uplift the weak and weary. They always seek to give them something to hope for, the truth about Christ. A suffering person is a vulnerable person. Those who are called by Christ are blessed if they take the opportunity to point them to the Messiah because true hope only comes from the Messiah.