a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering
[dictionary.reference.com]
Yes, I am compassionate. Taking the Myers Briggs Personality test has been a blessing. I finally understand myself. 1% of the population has my personality type. No wonder I felt misunderstood, but I'm adaptable, so I accepted my weirdness and moved forward. I am Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving. Organization is not a strength of mine. I had started thinking I had ADHD as I have difficulty with executive functions. No, it's my personality not ADHD.
Here is a classic example of my compassion. My counseling was telling me to imagine a student who is an INFP (like myself) and how alone he or she must have felt. I responded by expressing my desire to identify that student among the ones I work with at my school. My counselor said that she was talking about me when I was growing up! She was trying to point out my loneliness caused by having one of the less popular personality types.
Famous people who were also Intuitive Feeling (NF) include Mother Teresa, Joan of Arc, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Gandhi. It explains why I have always admired Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi. This summer I read a book about Mother Teresa. I wanted to move somewhere and start living as she did.
I am a compassionate person. I'm not comparing myself to any of the famous NF personality types, either. When I stopped believing in God, I was still compassionate. I felt hopeless. I could not fix the problems in the world. When I first accepted Jesus into my life, I felt like I had to fix everything. I started carrying the burdens of others on my own shoulders. I'm not strong enough for that; plus, I discovered my sin of trying to do Jesus' job. Yikes. I need a Savior!
Through pastoral counseling, God has shown me how to use my compassion in my prayers. I can see people's needs. I see beyond what my senses tell me. It's not my job to provide for their needs. That is God's job. I pray to God, reminding him of his promises and sharing the needs I see among his people. Fortunately, even if I assess their needs incorrectly, God knows their needs perfectly.
My spiritual life feels like a fireworks display. It has exploded, and I ooh and aww as I see God's responses to my prayers light up my life. Last year I started writing devotionals for a friend. I enjoyed writing them, but there was also an element of duty, an element of dread. It's obvious when I'm writing to cross it off my to-do list. Now, I see writing a devotional as my time with God. It's what I need to do to prepare for my day. On mornings that I start by reading a chapter from the Bible and writing about it, I feel joyful and see that joy spilling outwardly. This is what I had been praying about over the summer. I wanted to be God's empty vessel so that he may fill me with his joy and pour it out for others to experience.
Through counseling, I learned that I need to share all of my thoughts with God. When I start to feel anxious or when I want to check my e-mail or cell phone or when I want to eat anything in sight, I know that I'm hiding from my feelings. I'm reaching out to idols instead of God. On a Saturday, I practiced acknowledging my thoughts before my God. He made my path straight, just like he said he would in Proverbs 3.
Combining God's promises in the Bible with my compassion is what God created me to do. I'd like to think that there is more God wants me to do, but this is no small task, either. I take prayer seriously. I believe in it. The book of Mark is revolutionary. Jesus calls us to pray believing our request will be granted. When I pray for my brothers and sisters in Haiti, I remind God about his promises to provide for those who believe in him. I trust him to provide for his beloved in Haiti. He says he will. Sure the stories from Haiti are grim. Yes, people have died. God sees our broken world and weeps. God is compassion. God is love. God yearns to have a relationship with those he created. Yes, he wants a relationship with his messy, sinful creatures. He loves us despite our sins. He sent his son to die for our sins, so he could have access to us. Jesus bridges the gap between God and humans. I also pray for the little things with the same conviction. God provides all of our needs no matter how big and no matter how small.
I feel like a preacher. I feel like I'm standing on a soap box. Sometimes I feel like I cannot adequately explain all of my thoughts. I realize this may not make sense for the Sensing, Thinking, Judging personality types.
I am just sharing my personal relationship with Jesus. I delight in the fact that everyone has their own unique relationship with him. Everyone has their own unique needs and only God can provide for those needs.
It's like I finally understand what my pastor has been talking about for the past 3 years. When you're filled with the good news, you want to share it out of love with those in your life.
I'm not judging your beliefs or opinions. I understand what it is like to reject God. People who believe in Jesus are sinful creatures. We make mistakes; it's why we need a Savior in the first place. I also believe that God is bigger than our mistakes. He can heal our wounds. He can fix our mistakes. One day, God will come to alleviate all suffering. He will wipe the tears from our eyes (Revelation 21: 4), because he loves us so much. I hope I am able to wipe the tears of joy from his eyes. I almost dare not to dream such a thing, but I know that nothing is impossible through God (Matthew 19:26).
[dictionary.reference.com]
Yes, I am compassionate. Taking the Myers Briggs Personality test has been a blessing. I finally understand myself. 1% of the population has my personality type. No wonder I felt misunderstood, but I'm adaptable, so I accepted my weirdness and moved forward. I am Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving. Organization is not a strength of mine. I had started thinking I had ADHD as I have difficulty with executive functions. No, it's my personality not ADHD.
Here is a classic example of my compassion. My counseling was telling me to imagine a student who is an INFP (like myself) and how alone he or she must have felt. I responded by expressing my desire to identify that student among the ones I work with at my school. My counselor said that she was talking about me when I was growing up! She was trying to point out my loneliness caused by having one of the less popular personality types.
Famous people who were also Intuitive Feeling (NF) include Mother Teresa, Joan of Arc, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Gandhi. It explains why I have always admired Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi. This summer I read a book about Mother Teresa. I wanted to move somewhere and start living as she did.
I am a compassionate person. I'm not comparing myself to any of the famous NF personality types, either. When I stopped believing in God, I was still compassionate. I felt hopeless. I could not fix the problems in the world. When I first accepted Jesus into my life, I felt like I had to fix everything. I started carrying the burdens of others on my own shoulders. I'm not strong enough for that; plus, I discovered my sin of trying to do Jesus' job. Yikes. I need a Savior!
Through pastoral counseling, God has shown me how to use my compassion in my prayers. I can see people's needs. I see beyond what my senses tell me. It's not my job to provide for their needs. That is God's job. I pray to God, reminding him of his promises and sharing the needs I see among his people. Fortunately, even if I assess their needs incorrectly, God knows their needs perfectly.
My spiritual life feels like a fireworks display. It has exploded, and I ooh and aww as I see God's responses to my prayers light up my life. Last year I started writing devotionals for a friend. I enjoyed writing them, but there was also an element of duty, an element of dread. It's obvious when I'm writing to cross it off my to-do list. Now, I see writing a devotional as my time with God. It's what I need to do to prepare for my day. On mornings that I start by reading a chapter from the Bible and writing about it, I feel joyful and see that joy spilling outwardly. This is what I had been praying about over the summer. I wanted to be God's empty vessel so that he may fill me with his joy and pour it out for others to experience.
Through counseling, I learned that I need to share all of my thoughts with God. When I start to feel anxious or when I want to check my e-mail or cell phone or when I want to eat anything in sight, I know that I'm hiding from my feelings. I'm reaching out to idols instead of God. On a Saturday, I practiced acknowledging my thoughts before my God. He made my path straight, just like he said he would in Proverbs 3.
Combining God's promises in the Bible with my compassion is what God created me to do. I'd like to think that there is more God wants me to do, but this is no small task, either. I take prayer seriously. I believe in it. The book of Mark is revolutionary. Jesus calls us to pray believing our request will be granted. When I pray for my brothers and sisters in Haiti, I remind God about his promises to provide for those who believe in him. I trust him to provide for his beloved in Haiti. He says he will. Sure the stories from Haiti are grim. Yes, people have died. God sees our broken world and weeps. God is compassion. God is love. God yearns to have a relationship with those he created. Yes, he wants a relationship with his messy, sinful creatures. He loves us despite our sins. He sent his son to die for our sins, so he could have access to us. Jesus bridges the gap between God and humans. I also pray for the little things with the same conviction. God provides all of our needs no matter how big and no matter how small.
I feel like a preacher. I feel like I'm standing on a soap box. Sometimes I feel like I cannot adequately explain all of my thoughts. I realize this may not make sense for the Sensing, Thinking, Judging personality types.
I am just sharing my personal relationship with Jesus. I delight in the fact that everyone has their own unique relationship with him. Everyone has their own unique needs and only God can provide for those needs.
It's like I finally understand what my pastor has been talking about for the past 3 years. When you're filled with the good news, you want to share it out of love with those in your life.
I'm not judging your beliefs or opinions. I understand what it is like to reject God. People who believe in Jesus are sinful creatures. We make mistakes; it's why we need a Savior in the first place. I also believe that God is bigger than our mistakes. He can heal our wounds. He can fix our mistakes. One day, God will come to alleviate all suffering. He will wipe the tears from our eyes (Revelation 21: 4), because he loves us so much. I hope I am able to wipe the tears of joy from his eyes. I almost dare not to dream such a thing, but I know that nothing is impossible through God (Matthew 19:26).
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