Reimagining Pro-Life: 30 Days With Save the StorksНамуна

HEART //  

God is in the business of hope and love, compassion and faithfulness. Even in a world filled with much vulnerability and despair, God’s nature gives us reason to hope. And as we hope, His open-handedness toward us prompts us to live more generously! The kindness that we experience vertically — from God to us — should always become a horizontal act of sacrificial love — from us to others. 

In our effort to love others well, we can be tempted to either take on too much or too little. When we tend toward taking on too much in our own strength, it’s not sustainable. We all know this feeling — relying on our own power, not plugged into the Source, we begin to fade and eventually break down. But when we tend toward taking on too little (or even nothing at all), we miss the incredible opportunity to engage in His work in the world. Sometimes finding the right balance is tricky! There is a better way! We can be like God. 

Matthew 5:48 says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (emphasis added). Perfection, in this sense, means to be simply reflecting the reality and nature of our Father, who is perfect. Though we will undoubtedly stumble, God still calls us to be like (“as”) Him — because it is He that will compassionately sustain us day in and day out! We can live compassionately because of His everlasting compassion toward us. 

We position ourselves rightly when we work for the Kingdom not on our own strength, but on His. We receive His grace every morning, an abundance that makes us both willing and able to live with the good of others, and not just ourselves, in mind. God wants to direct our steps, filling us with the hope, love, compassion, and faithfulness necessary to live abundantly for others. 

The reality of generous compassion isn’t just that those who “have it all together”, or have an abundance of material possessions — those who the world may label “perfect” — are those who should be helping others. It’s that Christians need to be like their heavenly Father. We are invited, by Him, to do what He does. When we simply respond to His compassion toward us, we overflow with relentless compassion. Even the most materially poor or brand-new Christians are invited to give and love generously, and Scripture assures us that with selfless generosity comes indescribable joy. (See John 12:1–11 for a bit of encouraging proof!)

If you’re reading this devotional, you may be a woman who is suffering the trauma of an abortion; you may be someone who has worked tirelessly against abortion and feel out of steam and discouraged; you may be a pastor who knows that this is a serious issue, but has no idea how to engage it. Wherever you are, whatever you have to offer, whatever shame you may currently be carrying — know that it is no accident that you are here. God wants to remind you that “because of His great love, we are not consumed,” and He has something for you to learn about and to give in the fight against this enormous issue facing our generation.

// WORK

Write down your thoughts on this question: What is one area of your life that you feel you would be “consumed” if it weren’t for the Lord’s great love? Be encouraged that God’s compassion for you never, ever fails. What does your morning routine look like? Today’s challenge is simply to consider rearranging your morning tomorrow. No, not your entire day — just your morning. Plan to wake and pray, worship, journal or meditate on a verse and tap into the compassion of your perfect Father before doing ANYTHING in your own strength.