Luke 10:31-32–Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.  32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 

God convicts me many of times to things I am “unmoved” by that should evoke compassion for me to do something or react.  But because of the hardness of my heart or some other reason, I spend more energy trying not to relate to compassion, than relating to it…

If you are familiar at all with the Good Samaritan story, Jesus talks to a lawyer who wanted to test Him.  A priest and a levite, two men ordained by God to serve people in His love and compassion, saw a man in a ditch and passed by him. They literally spent more energy passing by the man, than spending that energy to help the man!

As you may know, the story ends with a “Good Samaritan”, a people hated by the Jews, came and showed the love of Christ, proving to love his neighbor as he loved himself. This man refused to be identified with the animosity between their cultures, to show the love and compassion he would’ve wanted.  He spent his energy showing compassion, and not fleeing from having a heart to relate…

It is easier to justify not relating to people who are clearly different than us on the surface than not.  But it is easier because we are finding our identity not in Christ, but something else that makes us think we don’t relate.  Yet if our hearts and minds were set on Christ, it becomes very difficult to dismiss compassion from our heart. Because we then see people in need of the Lord’s compassion and mercy, and He generally sends us to be vessels of it!

Fight to spend more energy in seeking God and how to relate to a world we have more in common with than we think