daily java

Daily Java: Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.- Ephesians 4:32.

Compassion and forgiveness should be the hallmark of any Christ follower’s life. It should be a Christ follower that people come to when in times of distress and pain. We should be known as people who care.

In the first century, as in many countries today, boys were preferred over girls in families. Boys carried on the family’s name, they could work and bring in income, all that. So many times, when a girl was born, she was taken and placed on the steps of a local temple to one of the pagan gods and “dedicated” to that god.

In other words they left the little girl baby outside to either freeze to death or be taken by brothels who would raise them to be prostitutes.

Christians became known for the fact that each morning they would try to beat the girl sex market people to the temples to gather the babies and take them home with them.

They had compassion. They were known for feeding people and helping people. Jesus himself said that one of the marks of his ministry that showed its authenticity was that the gospel was preached to the poor.

He came to people who could not pay him back or do anything for him. And he had compassion on those same people.

And he forgave them, just like he forgave you. The amazing part is that he did it in advance, before we asked, or even knew we needed it. Romans 5 says while we were dead in our sins, Jesus died for the ungodly.

We don’t have to prove our worthiness, we are made worthy.

So what do we do when faced with people who act stupid to us? We are kind and compassionate and we forgive. After all Jesus forgave you of a lot, so you should do the same. Any fool can hold a grudge. But it takes a child of God to forgive.

Besides, how we treat each other is how God will treat us. He gave a few parables saying that same thing.

So how do we want God to treat us when it comes to the crunch? Be kind and compassionate and forgive.