Should've Known Better: Showing Compassion Part Three

This is part three of a study on showing compassion to the unsaved.  Part One can be found here and Part Two is here.

In previous parts of this study, I talked about the importance of compassion in our dealings with those who don't know Jesus.  In this post, I'll share another reason why we Christians sometimes have trouble offering compassion and grace to the unsaved.

In addition to the "sense of superiority" mentality that I talked about in part two, we Christians struggle with thinking that a person who commits an offense "should have known better".  (We can call this one "Richard Marx syndrome" if you'd like)  When thinking about this part of the study, I was reminded of a lady that I saw in Albertsons recently.  She had her two little girls with her and they were hanging out of the cart, singing, dancing...generally being obnoxious as she's trying to shop.  It was evening so she'd probably had a long day and her kids were wound up and likely ready for dinner and bed.  As I was bagging countless packages of meat to fill our freezer, I listened to and slyly watched her dealings with her kids.  "Stop it! Stop it! How many times have I told you that?"  All the while, she's looking at meat, checking her list, etc.---not once does she stop to look her child in the eye.  "Since you can't mind, you can just go find some other family to live with.  Go!"  Her 4 or 5 year old little girl goes walking down the aisle away from the cart...

My first reaction was to think something along the lines of, "She should know better than to treat her kids that way.  She's not even looking at them while she's spouting off all this nonsense.  I would never treat my kids that way..." etc...

The verse that got me thinking of this woman was Proverbs 5:6: "She does not ponder the path of life; her ways are unstable, she does not know it."  This is speaking of the immoral woman.  Wow...she doesn't even realize that shes unstable!  She doesn't take the time to ponder life's path.  She doesn't even realize there's a better way---that money, weight loss, or a man cannot make it better.

Often times, people will make comments about our parenting style,  how nice we look, our clean home, our intelligent conversation, etc.  It can be hard not to get puffed up about that.  We can take two directions in our thoughts about this woman---or in other similar scenarios:

                Path 1: "She doesn't deserve those kids.  If they were my kids I'd...  Somebody needs to show her how to parent.  I'm an excellent parent, I'd never treat my kids that way.  Does this woman even love her kids?  She should know better!"

                Path 2: Pray.  "Lord, please bless this mother with peace in her home and heart.  Teach her about grace and put someone in her life to encourage her in her parenting and to lead her family to you.  Give her a fresh start tonight and teach her that with just one soft-spoken word, one change in attitude, she can change the whole atmosphere of her home.  Show her that this will lead to the behavior she wants to see from her children."

Another verse on this is Proverbs 4:19: "The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble."  How do I respond to this?  With compassion or with cynicism?  Do I say, "Oh yeah right, surely they know what is making them stumble!"

Think about it:  Why do the lost stumble?  Maybe they didn't recognize the stumbling block as a bad thing in the first place.  Maybe they didn't see it in the road because their eyes were focused elsewhere.  Would their walk have been any better had they had a guide?

Isaiah 30:21 says: "Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk in it', whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left."  Wow! The unsaved don't have that voice of the Holy Spirit guiding them! Can you imagine?  How sad for them.  Do we have compassion for them?  Do we have enough compassion to do something about it?

Go to Part Four

Chinese Style Pork and Rice Dinner Recipe

This is one of our family's favorites and it's pretty easy to make.  Let me know if you give it a try!

Chinese-Style Pork and Rice Dinner
 
2 lb. tender pork loin or shoulder roast
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. honey
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. salt
4 c. cooked rice
1 c. scrambled eggs
1/2 c. green onions

Mix soy sauce, honey, garlic, and salt together and marinate pork 24 hours, turning every 6-8 hours.  Remove pork from marinade and bake at 400 for 1/2 hour.  Turn heat down to 300 and bake until internal temperature reaches 170 or the packager's pre-inserted plastic thermometer pops up.

Let pork sit on top of stove or counter about 45 min.  This will help the juices to settle (so the meat stays juicier) and will cool it off for easier slicing.

Slice almost all of the meat, saving a portion for adding to the rice.  Cut the saved portion into small pieces and set aside.  

In a large bowl, mix cooked rice, chopped scrambled eggs, green onions, and reserved meat.  Add salt, soy sauce, and, if you wish, garlic and other seasonings to taste.

Enjoy! Linking with:

Pink Week

Before I show you my pretty pinks for this week, have you seen my Weight Loss Giveaway?  Visit the link if you think you might want to encourage me in my goals...and win a prize for yourself!

Also, I still need one more person in my Pay It Forward game.  If you're interested, go to the link and check it out!  I thought I'd do a little pink recap of this last week.  Last weekend, I got all of my craft items together in one accessible place.  You can read about that here.  I've been saving jars and lids to store all my little found things in.  Once I get the lids decorated, they'll be a pretty cute set---thrifty!  :) 

  Monday was my mom's birthday and I made her this little pillow.  I should clarify...I spruced up an already-made pillow that I found at Salvation Army!  The actual pillow and the lace trimming were someone else's work.

The picture is baby Kynthia Joy right before we brought her home from the hospital and the text reads, "The Best Days Are When Babies Come".  Who can tell me where that line is from?  :)

Speaking of baby Kynthia, she turned 2 months old on Sunday!  She's smiling a lot now and laughing too!  (Not sure what she's doing with her fingers here though...Ha!)

Linking up to Beverly's Pink Saturday!  Have a great weekend everyone!Also linking to: