Compassion and Comfort

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ." 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

The pain of a wound is often enough punishment. As a kid, do you remember horsing around, doing something you were told not to do, but did anyway, and got injured? There is always somebody around, probably one of your friends, who will say something like, "That's what you get!" for being disobedient. Maybe you got hurt doing something that you struggled with not doing, but could not overcome the temptation to continue in the activity. Despite your friend seemingly relishing in your pain, nothing compares to the fear of punishment that is awaiting you when your parents find out. But, what do you often find when you get home? You may get the, "What happened to you?" question. Most parents, being discerning, will already know what you did, but will still ask, "Were you doing [fill in the blank] again?" You will sheepishly admit to your "sin" and await the wrath of your parents, but then something else happens. Your parents will probably say, "Come here. Let me take a look at that" or "Let's get you cleaned up." While they are cleaning up your wound, they will take the time to reiterate why you should not have engaged in that activity. Perhaps, they will ask, "Are you going to do that again?" As the child, you will probably commit to never doing it again, if for no other reason than to avoid getting hurt again. Time will tell. Your parents may add insult to injury and punish you in some additional way, but most likely they will conclude that the pain and embarrassment from getting hurt are more than enough penalty. Damage is done. Lesson learned. Let's move on. When it comes to the Christian life, we have all experienced times where we were trapped in some sort of sin. Yes, we knew it was wrong to engage in it, but we did so anyway. Yes, we knew it could cause us some sort of pain; physically, mentally, financially, emotionally or all of the above. Yet, we still did it. Unfortunately, for many Christians, it seems all they have around them are those "friends" mentioned earlier. Only, in this case, it is their so-called brothers and sisters in Christ who only come with a spiritual version of "That's what you get," or "I told you so." They are the ones who only focus on the sin and how disappointed God (your Spiritual Parent) will be for your actions. They will be the ones who will tell you that you must "want to overcome" your sin, identify the sins you want to overcome, replace the cause of your sin, meditate on living by what God says is right, pray for God’s help to remember the right response, begin living the right way, and don't give up. Generally speaking, these will just lead to a person being trapped in that sin or other sins because the entire focus is on sin and trying to live the right way in order to overcome their sin.

When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about the God of all comfort, he reminded them to focus on the parental aspect of God by calling Him, "the Father of compassion." Compassion means "to love" or to some extent, to "pity" someone. When the parent looks at the child who was disobedient, fell into sin and hurt themselves, their response to the child originates in their love for that child. It led them to take pity on the child and comfort them. Since God is the Father of compassion, His first action towards His children, as believers in Jesus Christ, is to show His love towards us. The ultimate expression of His love is forgiveness. In fact, as the passage above states, "we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." We receive God's comfort because He is not holding our sins against us. He has forgiven us. Therefore, we can approach Him, like He is our loving parent, and be nursed back to health. Instead of getting techniques which are designed to get us to do what is right and avoid what is wrong, which is the definition of being under the law, our focus is on God, who He is and all we are in Him. The first way will only lead to us falling on our face again because "the power of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56)." The more we focus on sin, the more sin controls us. It is not an act of love, nor is it comforting, to be instructed on how to be mastered by the very sins you are struggling to overcome. This is not to say to ignore sin, but to realize that as you focus on your God, those sins you struggle with will start to dissipate as a byproduct of receiving God's grace, love, and forgiveness. In short, if you are focused on God, you are not focused on sin. When we are able to be with God, knowing our sins are not being held against us, we can then discover why we chose to sin instead of trusting Him. The goal of the Christian life is not to stop sinning. The goal of the Christian life is to start trusting God. It is in this discovery that you are then able to comfort others with the comfort you have received. There is no comfort in receiving condemnation for our sins. There is no compassion in telling people they must rely on finding ways to get their flesh under control. The pain and suffering we experience when we sin remind us of what Jesus Christ went through on our behalf when He died for our sins. Furthermore, because He lovingly took our sins upon Himself, we can now approach God with confidence, in our time of need, to receive His compassion and comfort. And that is why we say, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."