What an amazing week it has been, as we began to see the pictures and hear some of the stories coming out of Appalachia. These were heart wrenching.

However, almost as quickly as the devastation was known to have happened we started to receive pictures and stories of efforts to help these people in such great need. These were heart warming.

Compassion is at the heart of Jesus’ ministry. Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus moved by compassion to heal the sick, feed the hungry, and comfort the brokenhearted.

As his disciples, we are called to mirror His compassion in our interactions with others. To do so, we must be attentive to the needs around us and respond to those needs with empathy.

However, compassion alone is not enough. Our verbal testimony to others is essential because that testimony provides the context and meaning behind our compassion.

Without our verbal testimony people will not be pointed to the source of our love and could miss out on the transformative power of the Gospel.

While balancing these two can be difficult, we must be intentional in building relationships that create opportunities to share the reason for our hope.

As we continue to show great compassion with others we need to also fulfill our calling of being laborers in the harvest, bringing the light of Christ to a world in darkness.