Lessons on Compassion Part 2 of 2 Looking to the Future

The Apostle Peter repeatedly opened his mouth when being quiet would have been a better option.  On the mount of Transfiguration, Peter spoke when he needed to listen (Mat. 17).  When Jesus was talking about his death, Peter said it couldn’t happen.  Jesus responded, “Get behind Me, Satan” (Mat. 16:23).  Peter always seemed to be the spokesman for the group of 12 disciples.  From what is written, it appears Peter lacked control over his mouth.  If one were to consider only what is written about Peter in the Gospels, one might wonder why Jesus would have chosen Peter to be one of the twelve.  After all, he made a lot of mistakes.  However, Jesus knew exactly what he was doing.  He recognized that Peter would soon preach that powerful sermon which impacted the lives of 3,000 souls on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2).  He saw how Peter would eventually write “…make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love” (2 Pet 1).  By looking to the future Jesus saw that Peter would become a dynamic influence on the spread of the Gospel.

As mentioned in the last article, it is tempting to say “but that was Jesus and he can see the future - I can’t.”  It is true that we can’t see what the future holds, but we can do our best to affect the future through our actions.  If prayer is offered, goals are set, positive thinking is implemented and perseverance is employed, the present can be directed and the future may change.  Although it is important to remeber that we cannot always affect the future for others, we need to attempt to look to their future in order that we may have compassion for them.  It would be a huge set-up for failure if we only show compassion toward others because we expect them to change.  Hoping they will change and expecting them to change are two different ideas.  We have compassion because in doing so we will open opportunities to help people improve themselves.  Jesus knew what Peter could and would become.  We, on the other hand, know people can change if they are willing.  Simply asking ourselves a question like, “If I were to help, what could this person become?” is a step in the right direction toward changing your thinking to be more positive and compassionate.  Compassion is not only a way of thinking but an action as well.