Today's Devotional

 

 March 31, 2009

                                                                                                                    

Subject:  Government Or God? Who Determines Your Compassion 

2 Corinthians 9:7 "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."

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In the early 1990's, millions of Americans were stunned by the graphic images of the starving people of Somalia.  The outrage eventually caused the United States to commit thousands of troops to the area in "Operation Restore Hope."  The operation was designed to begin feeding the thousands of people dying daily in the region.  It soon became a disaster and we, the United States left the area after an attack left 17 of our servicemen dead and after watching one soldier's body being dragged through the streets.  

In this case, the compassion was driven by the media and the images presented to the American people and while it is always good to care for others, we need to be sure that our compassion comes from the right place and that is from the Spirit Himself.  

We can be compelled by the media, by government, by neighbors, friends and a lot of other entities to get involved in this cause or that cause; to help this person or that person; to give to this organization or that one.  An example is how the government tried to convince us that the big 3 automakers "needed" our taxpayer dollars to stay in business.  I'm not sure many of us felt the need for that.    

As believers, we were never meant to look to the government to determine where our compassion should be.  I'm one who believes that God can do more with my money than the government can.  Therefore I would rather keep it in my pocket, waiting and listening for God's direction on it.  If the government decides to spend money to help starving children, my compassion should have already been there.  The bottom line is that our compassion should be driven by the Holy Spirit.  That's His job in our lives and we should submit to Him on that.

In the end, my compassion should be for those to whom the Spirit leads me and not for those for whom the government bleeds me.                

Carlen