[Therefore] … if [you have] any tenderness and compassion …[from being united with Christ]
Summary: Paul points us to a softness of heart that forms inside the breast of each believer.
The emotion that Paul describes in this passage is not a shallow feeling. Paul is talking about an emotion that comes from deep inside. In fact, Strong’s points us to the root of tenderness as being in the spleen.
I’m not sure why the Greeks settled on the spleen as the source of tenderness, but there it is.
Eventually, humanity decided that such feelings come from the heart.
As we have seen with other words, the original Greek can be translated in different ways. The Amplified Version, Classic Edition, translates the same phrase as “depth of affection and compassionate sympathy…”
This emotion will feel different to different people.
Each of us begins from a place of selfishness. That is the nature of the flesh (Galatians 5:19). When we encounter Christ, something changes. We are “born again” (John 3:3). To put it more explicitly, we are “born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
With God’s Spirit in us, we begin to experience life from God’s perspective.
This is where the magic happens.
The Bible talks a lot about God’s judgment, but in fact, God is deeply compassionate. Instead of rejecting us as we deserve for first rejecting him (Genesis 3:1-7), God sent his Son to rescue us from our enslavement to sin.
Jesus, having redeemed us, did not leave us alone. He sends us his Spirit (John 14:26, 15:26).
Imagine that!
The Spirit of God himself enters into you and me.
If you have ever wondered whether or not God really lives in you, think about the compassion you feel for others. Think about how God has softened your heart and changed how you feel and act towards others.
There is a story in the Old Testament about the prophet Elijah. He has been sentenced to death by the wife of Ahab, king of Israel. Her name is Jezebel. Elijah, fearing for his life, runs away. Looking for God, Elijah ends up on Mount Horeb, the “mountain of God” (1 Kings 19:8).
While he is on the mountain, a powerful wind tears the mountain apart, shattering rocks. Then there is an earthquake, and after that, a fire. All of these are signs of violent power, but God is not in these signs (1 Kings 19:11-12).
Instead, God comes to Elijah as a gentle whisper, and that is how he comes to us, too.
Application: God’s tenderness and compassion are like a gentle whisper in our souls.
Food for Thought: How do tenderness and compassion compare to our normal tendencies?
The natural tendencies of an unredeemed heart are not good. It doesn’t have much compassion or tenderness for its fellow man.
Jeremiah 17: 9: The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
With the help of the Holy Spirit and submission to His will, He can change us to bear the fruit of the Spirit as opposed to the fruit of our sinful nature.
Galatians 5; 16 – 26: So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever c you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Thanks, Rich.
When I read your comment the word “change” jumped out at me. The power of God’s Spirit is a powerful change agent for good.
How do tenderness and compassion compare to our normal tendencies?
They are like oil and water. We are all born in our housing of flesh which is in control of all natural human beings.
1 Corinthians 2:14, Romans 8:5-10
Romans 7:8, For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
1 Corinthians 2:14, The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
All tenderness and compassion toward others comes from the Spirit of God in believers.
John 3:5-6 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
1 John 4:16, We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
Thank you, Ron.
I like the “oil and water” analogy. So true!