Day 16 – The Exchange: 21 Days of Spiritual Swaps

I am quite hard on myself.

When I fail at something, I will often play the scenario out in my mind, again and again. As if I am wishing for a better ending!

I regret, fret and stress about the unchangeable. In fact, I judge myself more harshly than anyone else I know…

But, this morning, I felt God lead me to this verse:

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Matthew 9: 35-37, NIV, (my emphasis.)

When Jesus saw crowds of broken people, with all their flaws and failures, he had compassion on them.

It reminded me that, before I was a Christian, Jesus had compassion on me because I was harassed and helpless, like a sheep without a shepherd. I was broken and lost, trapped in sin and shame, yet Jesus was concerned about me.

He saw past the mighty mess I was lost in and his eyes were filled with empathy.

It struck me that this is the way I feel about my friends and family that are struggling. When I pray for my loved ones, I don’t judge them for the mess they are in – I just long for them to be free from whatever traps them.

I want them to live free and fully themselves; I want them to know Jesus.

Thinking on this, I realised that I have to let go of judgement and swap it for compassion.

I can’t keep mentally beating myself up for mistakes I made, if I know in my heart that God is merciful and compassionate.

In the gospel of John, there is a bible passage about a guy called Nathanael:

Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, “Very truly I tell you,youwill see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

John 1: 45-50, NIV.

In this passage, Jesus doesn’t deal with Nathanael according to his doubt. He calls out the good in Him.

Nathanael accepts that Jesus has seen the good in him. Nathanael feels known.

Jesus is compassionate towards us, He calls out the good in us and He makes us feel known. Sometimes I think we forget His eyes, filled with compassion towards us. He doesn’t see as we do.

The book of Psalms says:

Lord, you’re so kind and tender-hearted
to those who don’t deserve it
and so patient with people who fail you!
Your love is like a flooding river
overflowing its banks with kindness.

You don’t look at us only to find our faults,
just so that you can hold a grudge against us.
You may discipline us for our many sins,
but never as much as we really deserve.
Nor do you get even with us for what we’ve done.

Psalm 103: 8-10, TPT.

Maybe there is someone that you have judged harshly. A friend, a colleague, a spouse, a child…. Maybe you’ve judged yourself too harshly.

Today, I want to challenge you to swap judgement for compassion.

Come before the Lord and ask for forgiveness. Ask God to take your judgement and instead fill you with compassion, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Once you’ve done that, you may be prompted to show compassion towards someone. You may simply feel overwhelming compassion for a certain person.

I am convinced that kind of compassion can change the world.

Peer through a lens of compassion, instead of judgement.

Accept Jesus’ empathy towards you, today.

I can assure you, He is better than you think.

Action Points:

• Read Psalm 103 aloud.
• Bring any judgement before God, just be honest with Him about it. Accept forgiveness.
• Ask Jesus to show you His compassion. Once you receive compassion from its source, it is so much easier to give it away to others.