Don’t Lose Your Compassionate Edge (3)

We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.” Heb 4:15

Dr. Joseph Parker told his theology students, “Preach to the suffering and you will never lack a congregation. There is a broken heart in every pew.” Don’t lose your compassionate edge, because you can’t heal a broken heart unless you can first empathize with it. The Bible says, “We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.” When you lose touch with people, you lose your touch when it comes to ministering to them. Jesus went looking for the leper, the loser, the lonely, the lost, and the lowest in society. And He was comfortable around them. Are you? Serving others is actually good for your health. A survey conducted at forty-four major universities reveals that giving protects your overall health twice as much as an aspirin protects your heart against disease. Dr. Stephen Post, who conducted the survey, says, “Giving is the most potent force on the planet and will protect your whole life.” The benefits of compassion to your physical health are so strong that if compassion wasn’t free, pharmaceutical companies would herald the discovery of a stupendous new drug called “give back” instead of “Prozac.” We give for different reasons: to get an income tax deduction; to make a good impression and have people think well of us; or because we’re put under pressure. You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving. Your time, talent, and treasure are to be shared with others. When you refuse, you’re neither happy, holy, nor healthy.

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