Articles
Having Godly Compassion With Our Expectations
A big portion of our stress, anxiety, and frustration can come from unfulfilled expectations and unachieved ambitions. Many times—even without realizing it—we think of ourselves and others as superheroes who can accomplish anything and everything. These unrealistic expectations and ambitions cause a mindset centered around our desired outcome from the very beginning. When our hearts become too outcome focused, then everyone involved will likely be seen as a tool to be used until a desired outcome is reached. If we are to follow Jesus’ example, then we must find a righteous way to handle the unrealistic expectations that get placed on ourselves and others. This is amongst one of the many reasons why the late Archbishop, Desmond Tutu, once said, “You are made for perfection, but you are not yet perfect. You are a masterpiece in the making.”
Every person on this Earth is created by God in His image, so that one day we can become perfect with Him in Heaven. People will say that this world is chaotic and evil because of our free will. However, God created such a beautiful world that even the choices that we later found out were wrong can still have meaning and lead us closer to Him. Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We all have made wrong choices and will continue to have expectations that are unrighteous. Therefore, we must keep in mind that everyone’s value does not come from the outside worldly expectations that they accomplish. The worth of a person comes from God, the being that created their inner soul (Genesis 1:27). Out of our love and respect to God, we should be striving to give no opportunity to the devil. (Eph. 4:25-32).
The devil has no gains in this world when we shine our Godly light to ourselves and others. Jesus gives us the instructions to shine God’s light when he said, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-34) We glorify God when we focus on treating others in the same way we would care for ourselves. Therefore, Ephesians 4:32 reminds that we should, “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” This week, how are you going to show compassion to yourself? How will you righteously help others on their journey toward God?
