When I was in middle school and my sisters were finishing high school and venturing into their adult lives, my parents decided to take one final family trip. They planned a ten-day trip from Illinois through Missouri and Kansas to Colorado, where we stayed for a few days, then northwest Wyoming for a few days before returning through South Dakota and Iowa.

My dad loves to plan trips. He thrives on travelling adventures. And he and my mom had the foresight to know travelling in our family car with all three of us girls in the back seat together for many hours and miles would be less than ideal. (I’ve wondered if they were concerned more about our comfort or their peace of mind!) So they borrowed a conversion van.

I’d never travelled in something so spacious! In addition to the two front seats, there was a couch-like seat in the back with a table in front of it. The two middle seats swiveled around to face the table, so we could play games and eat. What a life. We were travelling in the lap of luxury. My dad didn’t hear “She’s touching me” or “She’s in my space” a single time. What joy!

After our stop in Wyoming, somewhere along the long trip home, we began to get edgy with each other. The tension built…until someone declared, “Mom…Dad…She’s looking at me!” You can probably imagine the expressions on my parents’ faces…

I love my family. I imagine most people have unrivalled human love for those closest to them. We would do just about anything for them. We’re most patient with them, most forgiving of them, and most compassionate to them. But they know how to push our  buttons. And we know them well enough to know how to push theirs. We know their history, baggage, and soft spots. We’re likely to show compassion to those closest to us and also likely to get the most defensive and hurtful around them in highly emotional situations.

God’s compassion has no limits. He’s full of compassion. When we reflect on his compassion, we should strive to have no boundaries of compassion. We should strive to extend it to those close to us who know how to push our buttons as well as strangers and enemies.

The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. – Psalm 116:5 (NIV)

Consider how you can show compassion to someone close to you. Let God guide you and ask him to stretch you. Avoid settling on something you’d regularly do. Look from the other person’s perspective and determine something that particularly speaks to him or her. Is it someone you keep at an arm’s length? There’s something tense, spoken or unspoken, between you? Is someone you love struggling? Is there physical or emotional distance between you and someone? How can you make the person’s life a little brighter or easier? Do it!

You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. – Luke 6:36