PODCAST
Compassion In Jesus’ Name
October 24th, 2014
Acts 3:1-10
True compassion is a lifestyle of seeing people and their needs and responding in the name of Jesus. The Holy Spirit helped Peter and John see the “invisible” crippled beggar: “Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses” (Prov. 28:27).
As a missionary, I sometimes caught myself trying to avoid eye contact with the poor. We have all switched the television channel so we do not have to see hungry children who need a loving sponsor. The first step in compassion is to see a person made in the image of God. My teenage daughter did this when she stopped us on a busy Guatemala City sidewalk. She rushed into a restaurant, bought a sandwich, and gave it to a beggar child on the street.
Peter and James gave a gift far greater than silver or gold. In the name of Jesus, they gave the crippled man the miraculous gift of mobility. It was true holistic compassion. We are called to do the same: to look at the person with respect, see their need, respond with generosity, and point them to Christ!
Author: Jerry D. Porter
