Devotionals by Raul Ries
SUNDAY September 27, 2026
Do You Exhibit Compassion?
Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another....
1 Peter 3:8
Again, Peter instilled in the hearts of believers that the Church, under persecution, needed to remain united. They were to be on the same channel––of the same mind. Peter sought to develop them into mature Christians who readily became one mind with other believers. Satan, for sure, will attack our minds with evil thoughts. He wants to disturb our peaceful oneness with others. He also wants to instill fear and tries to get us to think negatively: Well, maybe the best thing for me to do is to walk away from God. Do not let demonic thoughts enter your mind!
The second exhortation Peter gave was for believers to have compassion for one another. What does compassion mean exactly? Basically, Peter shared that they should do something to help each other. Compassion is not pity. Compassion is coming alongside a person to help them in any way you can. We are also to be sincerely sympathetic, which can be hard for some of us. However, as we go through sufferings and trials, God is faithful to teach us to feel compassion and sympathy toward others.
When Pastor Dale lost his son, I could not really relate. I had lost friends, and later in life, I lost my wife, but I have never lost a son. You see, God will bring us into deep places of sorrow so that we can learn how to comfort and relate to others. We show them great compassion because we know exactly how it feels to suffer the loss of a loved one. Having gone through the school of suffering, we become comforters to others. Nothing we go through in life is ever wasted. God helps us to be empathetic and to demonstrate His compassion toward others.
It is sometimes hard to open up and share what we have been through because we feel so vulnerable. But when somebody suffers, we suffer with them. When a person weeps, we weep with them; and when they are joyful, we are joyful with them (Romans 12:15). That is what makes us believers in Christ. It makes us like-minded.
A Christian ought to be a comforter, with kind words on his lips and sympathy in his heart.
~C.H. Spurgeon~
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About Raul Ries
Raul Ries is the Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Golden Springs and President of Somebody Loves You Ministries. After his miraculous conversion in 1971, Raul began to read and study the Bible extensively even though he had a limited education. In 1974 he began a home Bible study with seven other committed individuals. Soon, he started to preach and counsel youth during the noon hour at his former high school, Baldwin Park High. Calvary Chapel West Covina grew out of Raul's home fellowship, as well as his Kung-Fu studio, and was soon meeting weekly at an old converted Safeway store. In 1993, the congregation moved to Diamond Bar and occupied a 101,000 square-foot corporate building on 28 acres. Calvary Chapel Golden Springs (as it is now called) draws between 10,000 - 12,000 in attendance weekly.
Author of several books, including Fury to Freedom (the story of his early life and dramatic conversion), Raul Ries has also produced three films: Fury to Freedom (feature film dramatization of the book); A Quiet Hope (a riveting and stirring documentary detailing seven soldier's accounts of the Vietnam War and its aftermath); and A Venture in Faith (a documentary of the history of the Calvary Chapel movement).
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