"Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;" 1 Peter 3:8
The Leadville 100 Trail Race in Colorado (set to take place next month) is widely known as one of the most grueling 100 mile races in the world. As such, many runners fail to meet the time standards throughout the course every year or are deemed as unsafe to continue and are 'cut' by Sandy Monahan, aka the Cutoff Queen, whose job it is to tell you when your race is over. But, as a fellow runner, Monahan has seen the "distasteful" way this has been done by others and is determined to be courteous about it. So courteous, in fact, that race director Merilee Maupin said, "Sandy’s empathy for the runners she must cut is so very evident and she has a way of making each person know that they dug deep, gave it their all and that each fulfilled their personal promise to commit, not quit."
You know there will come a time in each of our lives-whether in our jobs, as parents or as friends- that we will need to tell someone something that they don't want to hear. And when this happens, the Bible tells us that we, like Sandy, are to have empathy saying, "love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous." In other words, since as fellow believers we have Christ abiding in our hearts, you and I are to show the same "compassion", or genuine concern and heart felt empathy, to others that Jesus showed us.
So today and every day, let us be kind in our speech and "tenderhearted" in our actions. And may we, like Jesus, make an effort to understand and feel what others might be feeling so we might "be courteous". After all, our words may be the difference between a brother or sister staying discouraged or taking heart and becoming encouraged.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the example of Jesus, who was always filled with compassion for the lost, lonely and hurting, that we have to follow. Help us to truly feel what others do that we might be able to love them as we are called and tenderhearted in our speech and actions. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!!!
Take a little time - Jeremy Camp
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