‘If you have any encouragement from being united with
Christ,
if any comfort
from his love, if any fellowship with the Holy Spirit,
if any
tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete
by being
like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
Philippians 2:1 (NIV)
Paul
writes to the Philippians; he encourages them to look into their hearts and
consider their stance with Christ. He points out that they should receive a
building up, an empowerment, from being in His presence. The apostle then
spells out what he means by the Lord strengthening them.
Did they receive “any comfort from his
love”? Do we receive any consolation from His grace? If any of us have gone
through the loss of a loved one, we have benefited from that great love He has
for us.
For
those of us who have dealt with depression, Jesus
has stayed by our side and comforted us. Maybe Christ
guided us through a deep valley by showing us how He helped in times past. He
could have sent someone to us who had experienced similar feelings or
circumstances.
What about “fellowship with the Spirit”?
Jesus promised us a comforter to help
us through this life after He ascended into heaven. By doing this for us, He
remains close to us, especially when we face difficulties or even events we
don’t understand in our lives.
Were the Philippians filled with
“tenderness and compassion”? Do we possess these traits? Do we respond to
people who hurt or those in grief as though we are led by the Lord or by the
thoughts of society? As I write this, a thought comes to mind. It goes like
this, “Always use tender words because sometime (we) might have to eat them.”
The
word compassion comes from two Latin words, cum-meaning ‘with’ and
pathos-meaning ‘suffering’. Have we needed to ‘suffer with’ a friend recently?
When we display compassion, sometimes it’s as simple as listening to another
person as they talk. Other times, we sit with them in a hospital. Or we carry
in food to their home.
Graphic:www.dgfumc.org
Very interesting, your Latin look at the word compassion. I like that, Cecelia. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rhonda. Back in high school, I took three years of Latin. Every once in a while, I can use that knowledge.
DeleteI'm with Rhonda; this is interesting. I think it's good to break things down sometimes like this to expand and contemplate what's being said.
ReplyDeleteThanks and blessings,
Karen :)
Karen: Thank you for your kind thoughts. It is the way I learned about the Bible in Bible studies.
Delete