How many of you are battling sickness?

How many of you are dealing with issues within your family?

How about the ones who came to college on a leap of faith hoping that God would provide financially?

Who out there battles with anxiety, depression, or any form of mental illness?

There are so many times that we think to ourselves “why me?” We don’t understand why we are dealing with what we are. Isn’t it so easy to look at the person next to us and just assume that they have it so much easier than we do? NEWSFLASH. They don’t. None of us do. We all battle personal struggles. Even though we may not see it, we all have one thing in common: life. is. unfair. for. all. of. us. We need to be compassionate towards one another. We need to not look at who has it “worse” but instead love one another through whatever we may be going through. Whatever scale it is on.

When I look at Jesus throughout the Bible, I see compassion exemplified in the most perfect way. Think back to the story of the adulterous woman. When Jesus was teaching a crowd at Mount Olive, the Pharisees brought down a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. Expecting him to confirm the stoning of the woman, the Pharisees instead heard him say “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.” They slipped away and it was then just Jesus and the woman.

“Where are your accusers? Did one of them condemn you?”

“No Lord,” she says.

“Neither do I…” says Jesus.

Just like he did for the adulterous woman, the Lord shows compassion to every one of us daily. If our goal in life is to strive to be an example of Jesus, then we should be able to give the compassion to one another that He gives us. My challenge for all of us is to reach out to those who are struggling, who are hurting, who are carrying heavy burdens. Reach out to them, love on them. We can’t expect for people to show compassion towards our situation if we aren’t doing the same for them!

-LG