Today I'm going to speak about Conviction and Compassion and the combinations thereof.

Conviction - The state of being convinced. Or a fixed or strong belief.

In Christian terms - An assurance of something that God said is true. An assurance that God's commands are not optional and disobedience is Sin.

Compassion - Deep awareness of the suffering of another mixed with the wish to relieve it.

In Christian terms - A burden to pray for and care for another person in their heartache, regardless of what caused the heartache.

I'm sure you'll agree with me that both of these are important to a Christian. However, different combinations of these lead to different results.

Conviction - Compassion = Legalism
A conviction of Truth with no compassion for others is legalism. You care for the letter of the law more than your fellow man. You do not care for their motivations, their drive or their past.
Fact is: They broke the law, they must pay for it.

Legalism is a bondage. It is Conviction taken too far with no love involved. It is Sin, full stop.
We are to love one another and bear one another's burdens but be careful unless we also fall into Sin.

Legalism will say "You broke the law, now die, filthy scum". There is no excuse for Sin and Sin is never Ok, but there is no excuse for judgement or condemnation either. Legalism is joyless and lifeless and loveless.
They take the Law as written and as intended and slam it into your face.

Compassion - Conviction = Compromise
A compassion for people living in Sin, with no Conviction of Sin is compromise. You will not confront the sin, nor will you do anything about the sin.
Fact is: They broke the law, but it's not our place to judge, so I will say nothing. Anyway God will forgive them.

Compromise is also a bondage and it is also Sin. We are told to love one another, yes, but we are also commanded to expose Sin wherever it is, in our lives, in our friends lives, Even in our Church Leaders lives.

A Compromising Christian will bend Scripture and pick and choose what to follow, to make others feel better. They will take a less literal view of Scripture with more leeway in order to accomplish their goals of comforting others.

They will take the Law, lay a liberal dose of interpretation and opinions upon it and make it mean what it does not, so others are neither offended nor feel condemned.

Compromise is love taken too far. It is the idea of a compromising "God is love" attitude that makes people think Sin is Ok and that God will forgive them and hell does not exist, cause God is love, He won't put anyone into hell.

Compassion Conviction = Jesus Christ

Jesus had conviction. He did not take Sin lightly. He beat salesmen out of the temple, He called the Pharisees "sons of Satan". Sin was no laughing matter to Him.

Likwise

Jesus had Compassion. He showed mercy to the woman caught in Adultery, He told her to "Go and sin no more". He had mercy on the lame and the sick. He had mercy on the thief on the cross when He said "I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise"

Christ is the perfect example of Balance. He had Justice and Mercy combined the way it should be.

We should also aim for the same.
Sin is NOT a joke, it is NOT to be taken lightly! A single Sin cursed the entire human race to Death. A single Sin got Lucifer cast out of Heaven doomed to an eternity in hell with no hope salvation and no reprieve.

However, as serious as Sin is, being loveless is just as Sinful. When you heap condemnation on someone for their actions, do you ever consider why they did it? What drove them to do what they did? What deception went on behind the scenes? What manipulation was there?

My opinion:
We have lots to learn and put into action. It's easy to sway one way or the other. That's the problem with narrow roads, it's easy to veer off.
Focus too much on God's Love, you may end up compromising
Focus too much on God's Justice, you may end up legalistic
Focus on both simultaneously, you may end up with the right balance.

Practical, the 'what to do with this' bit:
Deal with yourself first, then worry about others.
I know that sounds selfish, but take it from me, Standing the gap for ANYONE hurts like hell and if you're not in tip-top Spiritual shape you're gonna get kicked around and you will accomplish NOTHING by doing so.

Ask God to show you what you're in bondage to. Ask Him what Sins there are in your life that need dealt with. You may already know them, you may suspect them but be unsure if they are Sin or they could be completely hidden from your sight. Pray that they be revealed, and then pray for that bondage to be broken.
Focus on one at a time, Sin is stubborn, it won't go down easy. The longer it's been there the harder it is to shift.

This doesn't just apply to Legalism and Compromise. This is for every Sin.

While thinking what else to put here. Something sprung to mind that I've been thinking of the past few days

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Good tree bears Good fruit, a Bad tree bears Bad fruit, a Good tree cannot bear Bad fruit nor can a Bad tree bear Good fruit.

I've been wondering why Jesus said the second bit. I suspect I know why:

Christians - If you pray and read daily, focus on serving God and following His Will then you will bear Good fruit. It's a basic reaction.
Plant yourself in healthy food (The Bible) stay close to streams of living water (Christ) and you will naturally bear good fruit!

Unbelievers - You live in the desert. You do not have water (Christ), you do not have food (Bible). No matter what you do or how hard you try, you are incapable of bearing Good fruit.
Please don't take that as a condemnation, it's not. A tree in the desert will die and will not create fruit, simple as that.

Therefore: Eat the food, drink the water, you will bear Fruit and will by your very nature be Convicted and Compassionate at the same time.