Teaching and Modeling Compassionنموونە

Compassion Through Forgiveness

This may be the hardest place to offer compassion—to those who have harmed us or our loved ones. In this life, we get wounded, and we wound. Our children will meet bullies, be excluded, be ridiculed, be rejected, and be betrayed. We have ourselves walked that same hard road on the job, in relationships, or in marriages.

In Luke 23:34 we read about Jesus on the cross, that instrument of torture, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” He showed his killers compassion by seeking their forgiveness before God. Wounds bring on understandable anger and big feelings, but what we do with that anger and those feelings matters the most to God. We want to remind ourselves and counsel our children to allow God to mete out justice and vindication rather than taking on that role ourselves.

Sometimes it might help children to understand the wounds of those who hurt them, not to minimize their own pain or skip over it, but to walk a minute in the shoes of a bully or backstabber. Are those kids from a broken home? Have they been mistreated? Do they lack adults in their lives to teach them kind behavior? None of these questions justify mean behavior, but they may help our children’s wounds heal and keep their bitterness at bay. And our renouncing bitterness and hardness of heart matters to God. After processing a wound with our children, in time we can help them cultivate the same grief Christ showed for those who harm, rather than responding in anger.

Some people might never seek forgiveness for the wrongs they’ve committed, and these are the hardest to forgive. But our desire to forgive others is a form of compassion and it's the first step we must take to begin the journey toward forgiveness.

When the time is right, we can pray for the ability to forgive those who have harmed us or our kids. And if we don’t want to pray that prayer? Begin by praying for the desire to pray the prayer. It’s not a single event. It’s a journey. Seven times seven.

We hope you enjoyed this plan!

Thank you for reading about the Bible’s call to compassion. This reading plan was written by Linda MacKillop, the author of the middle-grade novel, Hotel Oscar Mike Echo, which highlights one little girl’s desperate need for compassion. Click here to learn more or order Hotel Oscar Mike Echo.