My friend Stacy explained the process this way: “My sons watched a movie about Daniel Boone, and immediately they began to play as if they were Daniel Boone. They pretended to stalk bears in the woods, chop down trees, build log cabins and explore new lands. Their lives reflected what they had seen in Daniel Boone. It is the same for us as well. As we fix our eyes on Christ and consider how He lived and died then we, too, will live and even die differently. We will learn to live like Jesus by “beholding” Him.”
Indeed, we will be changed by looking to Jesus. And, dear friend, you must specifically look to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Remember Hebrews 12:1-2, “ looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”
You’ll notice that we are to look to Jesus who endured the cross—our sin, our shame, the wrath of God, the hostility of us sinners—to save us. As we consider all that Christ has accomplished on our behalf, as we gaze at Him—beholding and considering the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world—as we see the compassionate heart of God displayed so vividly, we cannot help but be affected and changed. As we view the death and resurrection of Jesus, over and over, we are seeing the glory of the Lord.
Question 6. How does God’s compassion affect your heart, as you look at the cross? Please explain.
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I hope your heart is full to overflowing today as you have considered God’s compassion toward you. I pray that His love inspires compassion in your own heart and that all whom you encounter will know that you have been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).
The compassion of Christ in my heart enabled me to show compassion to my husband by being empathetic with him in his struggle against the habitual sins that had trapped him. I began to see my husband not as someone who was out to hurt me or whose sins were malicious, but rather as a man who was caught in a trap of the devil. I saw him as one who needed my help to overcome.
So instead of pushing my husband away, I “put on” compassion and drew my husband close to me in various ways such as: listening to him when he was struggling, helping him to prepare for his job, taking time throughout the day to check in with him to see if I could assist him in some way, making time to be with him as his wife, lover, and friend, and praying with him.
Question 7. How can you show compassion toward your spouse today?
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Tomorrow, we will move on to consider more of the new way of gospel living.