Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion….
—Philippians 2:1
When I was visiting a certain country to minister there, I was told that my meal at the restaurant cost what would be, for a local worker, many days’ wages. I offered to pay, but the local believers insisted that they would provide for me. I allowed this once, but I decided not to eat there again, for I was happy to eat what they served in their homes. Then I heard of another who had come to minister there. After eating at that same restaurant, he informed his host that he would eat nowhere else. What a lack of feeling for the local believers!
We have to be with others according to who they are. If they are poor, we should be happy to eat with them just as they eat. This is affection.
Adapted from Philippians: That I May Gain Christ, page 94.
Tomorrow: “Affection and Compassion” (4)