LIVING WITH COMPASSION (Part 6)
2 Corinthians 4. Verses 1 – 2 read:
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
In our last lesson, we considered the first part of the work of compassion narrated by Jesus in a parable in Matthew 18. We explained that with this aspect of compassion, God extends pardon through his abounding mercies unto men. These mercies provide a framework within which men experience the benevolence and transformation of God. On several occasions, Psalm 136 says that God’s mercies endure forever. Yes, God’s mercies are available at all times to help men to live godly lives.
This level of compassion does a deep work in men. It forgives sins, averts judgement, and extends grace to enable men to live the way God expects. Thus, through this mercy, men are positioned to execute the will of God in their daily lives. Today’s text elaborates on this point.
When in full expression, this dimension of compassion brings us into ministry or service to God. Ministry comes with a host of challenges, but based on the mercy provision, we must not become weary in service. On the contrary, we are admonished to leverage this mercy to cultivate the requisite godly standards for service. Service to God demands the expression of the nature or personality of God to avoid any form of contradiction. For this reason, today’s text admonishes that through God’s mercy:
- We must renounce hidden things of dishonesty. Dishonesty or insincerity must not have a place in the life of the servant of God. This has to do with our personality.
- We must not walk in craftiness or trickery in the rendering of service to God. This has to do with our mode of operation.
- We must not handle the word of God deceitfully. In other words, we must not twist the word of God to advance error or selfish agenda. This also speaks about our mode of operation.
- We must manifest the truth as we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. This is a call unto integrity, and it has to do with our personality.
Clearly, we see that the first aspect of the work of compassion is to make men imbibe the personality and operations of God. God’s pardon to humanity provides a framework that transforms our personality and operations to align with the Heavenly Father’s. Beloved, until God’s mercy or compassion transform us, we can not effectively channel them to transform others. Let us permit the daily renewed mercies of God to transform us as we render our service to God.
SHALOM 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏