What motivates you? Followers of Christ abhor blatantly self-serving motives, and yet even the most spiritually-minded among us are not immune to less-than-ideal motives from time to time.

"Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him." (Matthew 20:34)

Jesus was supernaturally empowered to perform miracles and healings in demonstration of the reality and presence of the Kingdom of God, but that supernatural ability would have been only marginally effective were it not motivated by compassion. Compassion for the needs of people coupled with the Spirit of God makes for a mighty force.

The priority of compassion is eloquently described in 1 Corinthians 13:

"if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2-3)

As we are moved with compassion in sharing biblical truth and helping with the needs of others, we demonstrate the reality of the coming Kingdom and its King today.

"What can I possibly do? I'm not very talented", many would say. As limited and imperfect as our abilities might seem, they become powerful and effective when motivated by compassion.

If we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray and ask for the Father's kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as in heaven, we can be confident that we will be directed to compassionate deeds today that will both declare and demonstrate the kingdom as well as provide wholeness to these who are broken.

Steve