I confess, when I read reports about senseless acts of violence against people, it makes me angry. Sometimes I want the ones who inflicted the pain to be given the same treatment they gave their victims. But God has been convicting me that I need to react with compassion rather than anger. It’s easy to feel compassion for the one who’s been abused; not so easy to be compassionate toward the abuser. But in God’s eyes, the two are equally loved. In God’s eyes, both are equally broken. Hatred flows from a life that is so riddled with ugliness nothing but ugliness can come out. People caught in sin’s embrace need our compassion. They need our prayers. They need us to point them to the One who can heal their brokenness and grow them in grace. This simple prayer, “Break my heart for what breaks Yours,” always brings me to tears. Tears for the abusers who are so very lost and so desperately need a Savior. Let’s pray for the abusers. Prayer can change hearts—ours, and theirs.
You May Also Like
Speaking the truth
It’s flat out not easy to be a Christian. People will reject you, hurl accusations at you, or ridicule you. But that doesn’t mean we should hush or change our behavior to match the world. Especially in this time when our religious freedoms are being trampled by those who are…
Proclaim it!
Has anyone ever tried to refute your faith? If it hasn’t happened yet, it will. Rather than arguing, there’s a simple response that no one can deny: your own testimony. The Sanhedrin couldn’t deny that a man who’d been crippled since birth was now standing and walking. You know what…
Hymn day: “We Have Heard the Joyful Sound”
HYMN DAY! “We Have Heard the Joyful Sound” by Priscilla Owens cannot be sung without enthusiasm. 1 We have heard the joyful sound: Jesus saves! Jesus saves! Spread the tidings all around: Jesus saves! Jesus saves! Bear the news to every land, Climb the steeps and cross the waves; Onward!—’tis…