Do we have compassionate hearts to share the truth, in love?

Do we respond to people… all people… (who may be different than us) with kindness and compassion?

Yesterday in church we went through the story of the woman at the well in John 4 and it was so beautiful to see some things in that story that we can learn from today:

1. Jesus goes through Samaria intentionally. He didn’t have to, nor was it the route they’d take from Judea to Galilee.

2. Jesus talks to the woman. Typically they wouldn’t talk to women they didn’t know, especially not a Samaratin.

3. Jesus equates our need for water, or our thirst, to the spiritual need every person has.

4. Jesus addresses the real need this woman had with compassion,not condemnation.

So here’s what has been on my heart since yesterday, and what I want to ask all of us:

Do we go out of our way, out of our “comfort zone or Christian bubble” to care for others? To meet the REEL need of people who are desperately looking for something to fulfill their lives? People who are searching everywhere and in everything else BUT the real answer to their needs?

I know as an introvert I struggle with this. It’s not easy for me to go up to someone and start talking to them. It’s not easy to talk to people I DO know about the truth of what Jesus did on the cross for our sins. But The GOOD NEWS of the gospel is life-changing, and as I head for Italy next week, I know this is part of the ministry He has called me to… because He’s call ALL of us to do just that.

So here’s what encouraged me in this story from John 4:

1. Jesus goes out of his way, out of societies norms, to share with this woman, in kindness and compassion, what her real need is.

2. He shares with her that He is the only One who can fulfill the void in her life. That when she puts her faith in Him, that is where she will find an unending, abundant source of living water that will satisfy.

3. The Samaritan woman didn’t fully understand who this Jesus was, but He opened her eyes to see, and when she (and we) put our trust and faith in Him, He shows us too.

4. He gives us new desires and a new purpose! That living water frees us from sin, fills us with joy, and overflows our hearts with the desire to share it with others!

The living water of Jesus Christ is meant to be shared friends.

I remember hearing someone equating our hope in Jesus to a cure for cancer. If we knew someone was dying from cancer, and we had the cure… would we withhold it from them? Never!

So let’s encourage each other to share the truth of the gospel message, with love and compassion, and let our hearts flow with rivers of living water. 💕

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”” John 7:37-38

Have a blessed Monday everyone!

Hugs,

Laura

Side Note: I want to encourage you to have a good commentary to help shed light on passages like this. They are great tools to help understand the context of scripture, hear what different theologians have preached, and to gain wisdom in our study of the Bible. This is NOT to say that we shouldn’t pray, search the scripture daily, and meditate on it as well. But when I’ve had questions about certain parts of scripture, this has been a helpful tool for me.

P.S. I shared a beautiful Reel from the river above on IG today.