Do You Suffer Together?

When I looked up the word “compassion,” I learned that it means to “suffer together.” When was the last time you suffered with someone? What does Scripture say about His children and what He expects us to do? For example, Ephesians 4:32 tells us to “be kind to one another ...” That’s not easy to do if someone criticizes us in front of others. Or, how do we “seek to show hospitality” as Romans 12:13 says, if that person is difficult to get along with? It’s challenging to “repay no one evil for evil” if someone cheated at work and got the promotion. We don’t want to suffer with someone who hasn’t been kind to us. So how do we resolve this dilemma? The answer is, we CAN’T be kind or show hospitality or be fair. We cannot suffer with someone unless Christ is working in us. Psalm 119:77 says it perfectly, “Let your mercy come to me that I may live.”