Living in the Image of God M02S08
When God calls a person to provide goods or service to benefit another, he also calls the other to appreciate the act of compassion. Appreciation initiates a process toward realizing the long-term benefits of human service by motivating a hunger to be good to others, sensitivity to others’ needs, and a disposition to accept and complete responsibility in a subsequent call to compassion. Thus, appreciation unlocks the long-term benefits of human service by empowering the receiver of an act of compassion to motivate self and others as the initiating link in a potentially infinite network of provider-receiver relationships.
A call to compassion invokes a complementary call to appreciation. That is, when God calls a person to provide for the needs of another, he also calls the other to appreciate the act of compassion. Thus, a call to compassion establishes a provider-receiver relationship and assigns responsibility to the candidate provider as well as the candidate receiver. Your responsibility as the candidate provider is to recognize the need, care about the needy, commit to doing what you can, and persevere in seeking to alleviate the need. The receiver responsibility is to appreciate the act of compassion. That is, receive the provided goods or service with appreciation.
Appreciation initiates a process toward realizing the long-term benefits of human service. An act of compassion provides a short-term benefit of addressing the immediate need of the beneficiary and, in addition, sows the seed for long-term benefits that are dependent on the receiver’s appreciation. By appreciating the act of compassion, the receiver is motivated to seek to be good to others and sensitive to their needs. As a result, he or she is motivated to accept and complete responsibility in a future call to compassion. By doing so, he or she motivates another that motivates yet another: in a potentially infinite network of provider-receiver relationships. Thus, appreciation motivates the receiver of human service to “go and do likewise” [Luke 10:37] toward fulfilling God’s purpose for the distribution of human service.
This bible study focuses on understanding the relationship between compassion and appreciation in fulfilling God’s purpose for provider-receiver relationships among people. Subsequent studies will discuss Christ teaching and other information in the bible to understand the role of appreciation in human interactions and relationships.
Call to Appreciation
In a Call to Compassion, God directs a person to provide goods or service to benefit another. The call establishes a provider-receiver relationship and assigns responsibility to the candidate provider as well as the candidate receiver. As the candidate provider, your responsibility is to recognize the need, care about the needy, commit to doing what you can, and persevere in seeking to alleviate the need. The receiver responsibility is to appreciate the act of compassion. That is, receive the provided goods or service with appreciation.
BLESSING OR PUNISHMENT God’s promise of blessing for completing responsibilities in a call to compassion (Matthew 25:34–36) applies to the provider as blessing for compassion and to the receiver as blessing for the appreciation of compassion. Also, his promise of punishment for declining responsibilities in a call to compassion (Matthew 25:41–43) applies to the candidate provider as punishment for refusing a call to compassion and to the receiver as punishment for refusing to appreciate an act of compassion.
The provider responsibility and receiver responsibility in a call to compassion are complementary and important to God’s plan for the distribution of human service. The appreciation of an act of compassion is like completing responsibilities in several future calls to compassion. Similarly, declining appreciation of an act of compassion is like declining responsibilities in several future calls to compassion.
Provider-Receiver Functions
By completing responsibility in a call to compassion, the provider alleviates the immediate need of the receiver. Also, the provider sows the seed for an infinite chain of provider-receiver relationships. The seed depends on the receiver appreciation: will germinate if the receiver appreciates the act of compassion but will die in place if the receiver does not appreciate the act of compassion.
The receiver appreciation motivates him or her to hunger and thirst to do likewise. As a result, the receiver is motivated to be sensitive to the needs of others and disposed to accept and complete responsibility in a future call to compassion. Thus, appreciation motivates the receiver to motivate another and yet another, in a potentially infinite network of provider-receiver relationships.
Long-Term Benefits of Human Service
The short-term benefit of human service is that the provider alleviates the immediate need of the receiver. The long-term benefits arise from the infinite network of provider-receiver relationships initiated by the receiver appreciation. The long-term benefits are incubated, birthed, and launched by receiver appreciation of the short-term benefit. That is, the receiver appreciation of the short-term benefit unlocks the long-term benefits of human service.
Infinite Network of Provider-Receiver Relationships
The receiver appreciation of an act of compassion motivates him or her to “go and do likewise” [Luke 10:37]. As a result, he or she is motivated to be sensitive to the needs of others and to accept and complete responsibility in a future call to compassion. Thus, the receiver appreciation motivates him or her to motivate another that motivates yet another—to a potentially infinite network of provider-receiver relationships.
The Appreciating Receiver
The receiver’s appreciation completes his or her responsibility in a call to compassion. That is, appreciation completes what God asks of the receiver (also known as the beneficiary) in a call to compassion. The appreciating receiver nurtures, initiates, and propagates the long-term benefits of human service.
He or she is blessed as a link in an infinite network of provider-receiver relationships.
A Taker of Human Service
In contrast to the appreciating receiver, a taker declines the receiver responsibility in a call to compassion-appreciation. He or she receives but does not appreciate an act of compassion. That is, a taker receives the short-term benefit of human service but declines to nurture or initiate the long-term benefits. Consequently, human service dies in a taker.
The taker earns a promise of punishment for declining responsibility in a call to compassion-appreciation.
Summary of What We Learned
When God calls a person to provide goods or service to benefit another, he also calls the other to appreciate the act of compassion. Appreciation initiates a process toward realizing the long-term benefits of human service by motivating a hunger to be good to others, sensitivity to others’ needs, and a disposition to accept and complete responsibility in a subsequent call to compassion.
Thus, appreciation unlocks the long-term benefits of human service by empowering the receiver of an act of compassion to motivate self and others as the initiating link in a potentially infinite network of provider-receiver relationships.