What if loving others isn’t about covering those we’re loving sins but rather more about covering our own sins? Perhaps in choosing to love each other, our own sins are being covered and washed away by the love of God. Revelations 1:5 describes, “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood.”

Compassion is not just one to restore civility to the dinner table or our conversations at work and online. Compassion is how we go about living our daily lives in a way that honors and emulates Christ. What a perfect lesson as we start this new year.

People are God’s work of art. Our lives either tell the story of what happens when we disregard His call to truth, or they tell the story of His redemption and its power to transform us. I love that no matter the current stage of becoming we are in, we display the workmanship, the qualifications, and the worthiness of our worship of our creator God. Just like a painting at every stage, the beautiful brush strokes are telling a story of the artist holding the brush.

People’s lives are constantly changing. Just because someone feels stuck now does not mean that they will always remain in their current situation. As believers, we need to base our contentment and hope is something more reliable and solid than fluctuating circumstances and emotions.

When we feel stuck, we can find hope and joy in Jesus. He is working in our lives even if we do not understand or “feel” what He is doing.

Instead of trying to control events and create a future we think will make us happy, we need to faithfully obey the Lord. He has a plan for our lives, and we can trust Him in the process. Let us focus on Christ, not on the fears, worries, or desires that overwhelm us.

The next time you find yourself struggling with anger, remember Jonah. Let him be an example of how not to respond. Jonah appreciated God’s compassion for himself, but he grew angry when God showed compassion to people he felt did not deserve it. God’s compassion extends to all. Lean into it and encourage others to lean into it as well. As you do, you will experience God’s grace, mercy, steadfast love, and strength. In turn, we begin to be slow to anger and quicker to show compassion.

Can you imagine carrying the cross behind the man who was about to save the world? Think about how Simon must have felt or what thoughts were going through his mind. He was pulled into this mess of a scene of a crowd crucifying an innocent man. He was forced to carry a heavy cross up to Golgotha. He was probably thinking, “Why me?” We do not have any other context provided other than this, so we wonder did he talk with Jesus, had he heard of Him before, did he know that Jesus claimed to be God?

Love is the key to forgiveness. Recognizing God’s forgiveness in our lives releases His love into our hearts. As 1 John 4:8 explains, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

Grace is powerful and active in our lives. Grace is never given to the perfect or faultless, for if someone is perfect why would they need grace? Instead, grace meets us in the thick of life, in the place of our need. It is grace that defines who we are, not our accomplishments or deeds, our mistakes or sins. So, instead of viewing our weakness as a place of rejection, let us recognize it as the place where God’s grace meets us, and flows through us.

You can take a man—dress him up, put him in the front row in church, and he almost looks like a saint. He may fool even his best friends for a while, but then put him in his office, or in the club on Saturday night, and you will see his true nature come out again. Why does he act that way? Because his nature has not been changed. He has not been born again.

Take time today to ask yourself the following question, does my behavior match my beliefs? Take inventory of your answer, and call on the Holy Spirit to help you as you seek to offer yourself as a living sacrifice to the Lord.