Compassion That Makes A Difference

“And of some have compassion, making a difference:” (Jude 1:22 AV)

 

There is compassion.  Then there is compassion that makes a difference.  We all want our lives to mean something.  We want to accomplish something.  We want others to be positively affected by our lives.  We want our children to grow up and live for the LORD with all the blessings life has for them.  We want our friends to be blessed by our friendship.  We desire our employer to profit a bit off of our efforts in the workplace.  Part of this is self-affirmation.  We desire to matter.  We want to be appreciated.  We want to hear those special words of love and gratitude that we are part of the lives of others.  However, Jude is applying the truth a bit more altruistic.  This compassion we have towards others is not meant to make us feel good.  This compassion is to the level of making a difference in the life of the recipient.  This kind of compassion does not stop until a life has been impacted.  This compassion wants to leave a mark on the life of another.

When I think of someone who had compassion on me to the point it made a difference, there are many.  But one, in particular, stands out.  My singles pastor years ago became my best friend, so to speak.  I had accepted Christ just before my 18th birthday and immediately felt all alone.  Relationships from my former life fled away.  I worked in the restaurant business, which as one knows, requires a high demand on one’s time.  The work environment was not the best.  Hardly any positive influences there.  In fact, it was in this environment that I was tempted into several poor decisions.  Having moved out of my childhood home, having no stable friendships, I was not in a good place.  However, my singles pastor, Hal, saw my situation and took compassion.  He invested what time he could to see that I was not discouraged.  It wasn’t a lot of time.  He would come by the restaurant weekly to pick up his order and say hello.  He would make a phone call once in a while.  Every year, on my birthday, he would send a card.  He gave me the opportunity to lead the singing and preach once in a while.  When he taught in the Bible institute, he took the time to spend some extra time with me.  It wasn’t much.  This support and compassion didn’t cost him a whole lot.  It didn’t need to.  All I needed to see was compassion.  All I needed was to know someone loved me and cared for me.  I was not needy.  I didn’t demand a thing.  He spent a few moments, here and there, to help a lonely young man survive the cruelties of the world until he was established in the faith.

In our ministry towards others, we need to examine our level of compassion.  Jude is not asking us to have compassion that we might make a difference in the world.  That is when ego becomes a problem.  He is asking us to have compassion that we might make a difference in the lives of individuals.  How deeply do we go?  How committed are we to impacting the souls of others?  Will they remember the words we spoke to them?  Will they remember the kindness we showed?  Will they, one day, give thanks to God for our ministry to them because that little thing we did pulled them from a precipice of destruction?  Will the handshake, the smile, the text, or the personal visit bring that individual back from a dismal experience to one that was more than tolerable?  Will the intersection of our lives change that life for the better?  Do we see men as trees, walking?  Or do we see them as they are?  I learned quite a bit during my nine years in the classic south.  One of them was to value the souls of individuals and interact with people on a personal level.  More so than I had ever done before.  A simple hello or a short conversation can make all the difference in the world.  Reading someone’s face and determining they are going through a hard time, then enquiring as to their state, will change that person.  Just asking them how they are will ease their burden.  Have compassion.  In doing so, have compassion that makes a difference.