Devotion
Free to Flourish - Compassionate
We continue to explore our ‘Free to Flourish’ theme during our Wednesday Worship gatherings. This week we looked at ‘Compassion’.
Do you ever wonder about the English words we use and how they came to be? Our word ‘compassion’ comes from Latin ‘compati’. If you break it down a little more we find ‘com’ means ‘with/ together’ and ‘pati’ means ‘to suffer’. So, in putting them together, we get ‘to suffer together’.
It adds a little weight to the meaning, don’t you think?
Doing a little more of a deep dive, if you look at the times the word ‘compassion’ is used in the New Testament, you often find the word ‘splagchnizomai’ in the original Greek. That’s a deep-seated emotion that goes to the pit of your stomach. (There is more to it actually... Check it out sometime.) Needless to say, I couldn’t find that one in my ‘Kimochi’ set!
It shows the depth of feeling that Jesus had for people. It was as if he had ‘compassion- vision’.
Jesus went through all the town and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harrassed and helpless, like a sheep without a shepherd.’ Matthew 9: 35,36 NIV
Jesus looked out at people and saw them as they really were/are... loved, valued and precious.
He also saw their need, felt compassion, and was moved to action!
There are accounts of him feeding people, healing people, enlightening them with hope and sharing good news. He taught stories (including the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan) that showed what compassion looked like.
Image if we wore invisible ‘compassion glasses’ so we could see others through the same kind of lens that Jesus had... Opportunities are all around us!
Beginning next week we, Good Shepherd School and ELC, will be collecting items for families who are doing it tough, through Lutheran Care’s ’12 Days of Giving’ appeal. This is just one way we get to show compassion to people in our own backyard. Please keep an eye out for the kinds of items that will assist Lutheran Care in creating Christmas Hampers in December.
Are there any other opportunities in your sphere of influence where you could show compassion?
Be on the lookout... Pop on those ‘invisible compassion-glasses’. You just might see a chance to help someone in need and feel compassion, right down deep inside you. Don’t leave it there... God is happy to help with ideas of ways you could take action! Your input might just make all the difference!
God bless,
Georgie
Sunday Service Times at Good Shepherd
2025 Worship Song Playlist
Do you find yourself wondering what songs we sing in Wednesday Worship? Do your children come home singing some of the songs? We would like to invite you to our Good Shepherd School Worship Song Playlist on YouTube. To find a selection of songs that we sing, click here and start singing along!