Mind of Christ: Ep.3: Compassion in Action: Seeing People, Not Problems

0:12 Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast with your host, Connie Morris, where healing has a voice and truth is no longer silent. Father God, like Jabez, we cry out that thou would bless us indeed. Bless every woman listening beyond trauma, beyond limits, beyond what she thought was possible. Enlarge her territory. Expand her purpose. Let your hand be upon this moment. Saturate every word with oil and truth. break cycles, cancel every curse sent to silence her. This isn't just a podcast. This is holy ground. In Jesus' name, amen.

0:53 Hello, and welcome back to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast. I'm your host, Connie Morris, and we're continuing our series on faith on the go. We know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. That's why this space was created for your quiet moments, your work days, your commutes, and those in-between places where your spirit just needs to be refilled or recharged. Faith on a Go is for those times when you're fighting battles not yet won, but already finished in Christ. It's for the ones who keep believing, keep pressing, keep walking, even when the road seems long.

1:33 So wherever you are today, settle in and let the word of God strengthen your faith while you are on the go. Today we're going to go to day three, a mind of compassion moved by others' pain. The key scripture is found in Matthew 9, verse 36, and it reads, When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Everywhere Jesus went, he carried the presence of love. He didn't look at people and see problems. He saw possibilities. He didn't see the crowd demands. He saw their needs.

2:15 The gospel tells us when he saw the crowds, he had compassion. Matthew 9. Verse 36, the word compassion in the Greek means to feel deeply from the inner parts. It's not a passing emotion. It's a movement of mercy that comes from the soul of God himself. When Jesus was hungry, he fed them, Matthew 8, 2. When he was sick, he healed them, Matthew 14, 14. When he saw the grieving, he wept with them, John 11, 35. and when he saw sinners, he forgave them, John 8, 10 through 11.

2:56 Every act of compassion was a mirror of heaven's heart, love made visible through human hands. The commentary reads, The mind of Christ feels what the Father feels. Compassion was not weakness, it was power clothed in empathy. When Jesus touched a leopard in Mark 1, 41, he didn't fear infection, he offered restoration. When others avoided the woman at the well, he sat beside her, John 4, 7, proving that love crosses barriers of shame and culture. This is the kind of thinking God calls us to, seeing pain not as an inconvenience but as an invitation.

3:39 Compassion moves us from judgment to mercy, from distance to closeness, from talking about love to living it. Ephesians 4.32 tells us, be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as Christ has forgiven you. Compassion is the language of heaven. It's how Jesus looked at the world through eyes that saw brokenness, but never stop believing in healing. The mind of Christ allows us to feel without being overwhelmed. To care without collapsing, and to act without hesitation. Sometimes it's a gentle word. Sometimes it's a silent prayer.

4:22 Sometimes it's simply being present with someone in pain. Reflection, I want you to ask yourself, how do I truly see the people around me? Or have I grown numb to their needs? When I encounter someone hurting, do I respond with avoidance or with grace? Can I allow God to use my own scars to bring comfort to others? Let's walk it out like Jesus. Number one, see people, not problems. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to someone who needs encouragement today. Matthew 9, 36. And you know, when you ask him for this, it can happen in the grocery store, at the mall.

5:02 It can happen at your workplace, when you get gas. something can happen in your everyday walk around, right? That you can ask the Holy Spirit to give him eyes like Jesus, the compassion that Jesus has so that we don't see people as problems. There's one thing that's going on in the world today, and I think it's fed through the media, and it mentions this a lot, and it really bugs me. It says illegal aliens, or we have these Hispanic people working everywhere. And it's like, okay, they always worked everywhere. And the illegal part is the press. Everybody here is not illegal.

5:45 So when you start to see people through that illegal eyes, then you start to have some kind of feelings, feeling some kind of way, when that's not even a proper way to feel towards God's people. Matter of fact, I can say this, honestly, probably none of your business because they don't wear illegal around their neck. So you would never know. But when you start grouping people in boxes and in shapes and in sizes, then you are not having the compassion. Of Christ. So ask God to see people not as problems, but for someone who needs encouragement today. Number two, move toward the hurting. Jesus touched a leopard before healing him.

6:27 Mark 1 41, compassion takes the first step. And so many people avoid the one that's hurting. Check this out. There's someone homeless probably near you. I mean, it's happening everywhere. Why don't you pull up to them? You have more than enough. You have a house to stay in, have more than one pair of shoes to wear, more than one shirt, one pair of underwear. You are doing pretty good in society, right? And so why don't you move up and ask, how can I help you today? And they can say what they want. And if you can't help, you can. If you can't, you can say, all I have is this today. All I have is prayer for you today. Can I pray for you today? Don't you have a voice?

7:12 Right? So we move towards the hurting. And as you sit and talk with them, you can probably find them every day at that same spot. Don't mean you have to give to them all the time, follow what the Lord has for you, but then you can move towards the hurting. Maybe they just want to be seen. Listen listen before you fix. Like Jesus, you know, Jesus met the women at the well. He is a prophet. He probably knew all about her before he even came there. He probably there because of his prophetic gifting or his obedience to God. But how many times do we listen to people? We assume they need this when actually they might not even need that. You assume they need money. They might just need a job so they can make money.

7:53 Remember, teach them how to fish so they can fish for themselves, right? Right. And so learning how to listen before you fix. How about learning how to listen before you judge? And number four, let compassion interrupt you. It's never convenient when someone needs help, is it? I mean, we have our set schedule and we love to follow it, but yet it's never convenient. But let your time be interrupted by God. Let compassion interrupt you. Jesus has a way to heal one when another touches garment. Matthew 5.30. Ministry often happens in divine interruptions. And number five, pray for the eyes of Christ.

8:36 Ask daily, Lord, help me to see what you see. 2 Corinthians 5.16. Remember this devotion was about getting more and more like Jesus. We just finished maybe a double series of the Bride of Christ. And so if you didn't learn nothing from that one, this is going to pretty much help you on this phase, but not be a negative, but like, hey, if you love that series, you're going to love this series. If you didn't love that series, hey, you're going to love this series anyway. All right, so let's pray. Father, thank you for showing me your heart through Jesus. Teach me to see people the way you see them through eyes of mercy and truth. Break down every wall of indifference in me. Let my heart be moved, my hands be willing, and my words bring life.

9:20 Use me to be the light to the weary, the comfort to the broken, and the hope to the hopeless. In Jesus' name, amen. I have the mind of Christ. My heart beats with compassion. I see others through God's eyes and respond with his love. I am moved by mercy, not judgment. And I bring healing wherever I go. Wherever we go, we... Carry that healing with us. So remember that. You carry that encouragement with you. Remember that. You carry humility with you. Remember that. And most important, you carry his compassion with you.

10:01 Remember that. When you think about this, where can you allow compassion to move you from observation into action today, right now? And what steps of love can you make? What steps can you take to mirror the heart of Jesus? Compassion. Just a quick reminder. See people not as problem, right? Move towards the hurting. Listen before you fix. Let compassion interrupt you and pray with the eyes of Christ. You have been listening to Faith on the Go with your host, Connie Morris, from the Diary of a Black Woman podcast. I hope you're enjoying this. I hope you are putting your faith to work, especially with this compassion series. You know, there's people hurting all around us that we don't even know.

10:46 But remember, as you help others, you'll find out that your needs will be met. I don't know how God does that, right? So I pray that this word energizes your faith and reminds you of God's promise. It says His word will not return void in Isaiah 55, 11. It mentions in other translations that His hand, it won't return empty. I mean, God is expecting you to do something, to not just have the mind of Jesus, right, but to also have the compassion of Jesus. But know this from Philippians 1.6, that he who began a work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.

11:27 He's going to finish the work in you. So don't stop believing, keep walking by faith, and keep trusting. And I'll see you on the next episode. Thank you for listening to this episode. And before we close out, I want to speak a word of promise over you from Jeremiah 29, 11 through 14. Father God, you declared, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. So today we receive that truth. You said when we call on you, you will listen. So we pray. You said that when we seek you with our hearts, you will be found. So we pursue.

12:09 You said you will restore us from captivity. So we declare freedom over every place where our listeners feel stuck, silenced, or small. Thank you for always drawing near when we show up in faith. In Jesus' name, amen.