KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Toolbox 4
IN EVERY ELDER'S toolbox
There should be some TISSUES
A man can never serve successfully as an elder without compassion. We live in an age when people are hurting. Elders must learn to get down where people are, and weep with those that weep (Rom. 12:15).
Approximately every twenty-seven minutes a husband and wife call it quits and divorce. Have you ever seen a wife leave, take the kids, and force the husband to bear the financial burden so that she can live it up with another man? How do you deal with that? With compassion.
Are you aware of any homes where the wife is giving due diligence to be the Christian that she ought but the husband sees no use for the Lord, and in turn, makes everyday a challenge for her to keep her faith? How do you help her hang in there? With compassion.
When death makes its cold harsh blow on the life of a man, and his spouse is left behind to mourn for a man she wanted to be married to for fifty more years, who should be at her side? The preacher? Sure! But the tender touch she needs to feel is that of a shepherd caring for his flock. (Neil Richey)
KneEmail: "Jesus wept" ( John 11:35).