I found David Whyte’s opinion piece in the November 2010 NZ Baptist thought-provoking. How do we reconcile Jesus’ compassion with his seemingly harsh statements and actions? As I pondered the question, it helped me to realise afresh that God never does anything out of selfishness. Jesus did not speak or do anything to satisfy himself. He had the best interests of the universe in mind when he did anything.

But we as humans often mix selfish motives with seemingly compassionate causes and can even act as unrighteous “rescuers” to satisfy ourselves or the recipient of the compassion. Or on the other hand, we as “truth speakers” can mix selfish motives with righteous causes and act as heartless, merciless orators.

So like anything else, we all need to watch our motives. We need to watch our compassion to make sure we are doing things in the best interests of everyone.

We also need to watch our tongues to make sure we are really telling “the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).

– Ross W. Tooley
Auckland