“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.“
Matthew 7:1-5 NIV
Due to a lack of compassion, we tend to exhibit behavior that enables destructive behavior in others. Our rage at the wrongdoings of others, the blaming, abusive and condescending words we utter, all display an ignorance or denial of the underlying truth regarding the shared condition of us all. None of us, not a single one, has an acute awareness of the gravity and influence of our shortcomings. We know not what we do. Again and again, we find ourselves a tangled mess engaged in friendly fire.
Consider these two images:
1. A group of soldiers, all of them wounded, stranded in a swamp. One of them has a compass but is equally damaged by the brutality of war and cannot escape without the aide of his comrades. All are injured but lean on each other and pull from the strength of their collective effort to navigate out of their distress. They have hope – a compass – and a destination. However painful and difficult it may be, they will succeed.
2. Another group of soldiers is in a similar condition. Battered and broken, these comrades also possess a compass. Yet, whoever holds the compass begins to despise, bully, resent, and neglect the others. How can they not know the way? Why can’t they just fall in line and follow without disruption? What is wrong with these people?! Each member of this group is hyper aware of the injuries present in the other members. As they lean in to this focal point, they become unable to consider the severity of their own individual distress. Together, they drag each other down; and so, in an effort to survive, they opt for isolation. Yet, victory for the one man army is a gamble at best.
An unfortunate tendency of humanity is that we underestimate the severity of our own, individual need for God’s grace and redemption. With vision askew, we identify a more critical need for transformation in our neighbors, employers, coworker, in-laws, parents, siblings, and our children. We belittle and berate those who we consider to be “in the wrong”…bullying them for their transgressions while blinded to our own abusive behavior. It’s no wonder that, while Jesus was enduring His murderous death, He cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34a)
As humans, we tend to flock toward destruction like butterflies to dung. It seems we can’t help ourselves. Left to our own devices, we would be destined for a pitiful existence. But what if we followed His lead? What if we had more compassion? What if we dug down deep and realized the truth about our depravity and, as a result, we traded in anger and hatred for understanding and gentleness?
“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.Now what do you say?”…But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
“At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
John 8:3-11 NIV
Compassion has, and always will be, the greatest agent of change. Jesus never condoned sin, He called evil what it was, but He also wielded compassion so effectively that it inspired change, repentance and renewal in the lives of countless individuals. If we follow Him, He calls us to do the same. But we must experience His compassion for ourselves first through self-examination and exposure to the grace of God. Then, as we lean into Him, He can fill our hearts with compassion…expelling shame and guilt. After all, we serve a God who is just as eager to forgive and redeem the murderer as His is to heal and mend the brokenhearted, when either call on Him. Oh, the wonders if His grace!
“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”
Luke 7:47 NLT
The Voice of a Phoenix 
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