Compassion

Our god is a compassionate God who sent His son Jesus Christ to die for us on the cross -- the ultimate act of compassion; His mandate for us, in response to His compassion, is to love others, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, and to share through our lives the example of the compassion that He showed us. Colossians 3:12 says that “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” We are God’s chosen people. We are holy and dearly loved. Therefore, we are called to clothe ourselves with compassion. But what does compassion mean?

Dictionary.com’s definition of compassion is “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.” Compassion is not just the act of feeling bad for someone. Compassion is the act of grieving and having deep sympathy for someone as well as having a strong desire to alleviate their pain. You have to have both of these parts—sympathy and compassion—to have the full act of compassion. John 3:16 says that, “For God so loved the world…” (sympathy) “He sent His one and only son…” (desire and action.)

According to Webster’s 1828 dictionary compassion is compared to, “A suffering with another; painful sympathy; a sensation of sorrow excited by the distress or misfortunes of another; pity; or commiseration.” Compassion changes how people feel about everyone around them. Compassion changes how individuals react to people and how they show love to those around them. Even people’s extreme dislike and hate of a person can be changed through compassion. It is not just sorrow; it is also love.

The bible says a lot about compassion. There are dozens of verses talking about Jesus’s compassion. God is such a compassionate God.

Isaiah 30:18 says that, “Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”

Lamentations 3:32 says that, “Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.”

Psalms 103:13, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;”

These are just three verses talking about God’s compassion that he has on us, but they all basically say the same thing: that Jesus loves us so much, that He shows us compassion. There are countless stories in the Bible that show examples of Jesus’s compassion for us.

Let’s take a look at the parable of the prodigal son. It’s about two brothers and their father. The youngest brother decides that he wants his share of the inheritance now, not later, when his father would die, but now. So the father gives him his share and the younger son goes off and squanders everything he was given. A famine hits and this younger son is starving and poor. He is hired to feed the pigs of some other man. He was given no food and so even the pig’s food looked good to him. He decides to go back to his father and apologize and ask for his forgiveness. He was going to just ask for a job. He recognized that he was no better than one of his father’s servants and he was not worthy to be called his son. Luke 15:20 says that “So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” This father was showing compassion towards his son who was lost, and now was found. He did not just accept him back; he embraced him with so much love and compassion. He hugged him and kissed him and he celebrated with him. That is what compassion looks like. Not just accepting someone but embracing and loving them so deeply.

This parable is a great example of what Jesus’s compassion for us looks like. We were lost but now are found. Jesus does not just accept us back, but he welcomes and embraces us with arm’s wide open because he has compassion for us. He felt sorrow for us and he did something about it. He died on the cross for us showing the ultimate act of compassion. He has loved us through it all, and that is what compassion looks like.

In a more modern and tangible context, Compassion International is a company that embraces showing compassion so fully, that they even named themselves Compassion. Compassion International is a company that works directly with impoverished countries and families, finding sponsors so that the children in these circumstances can afford school, food, and other basic necessities of life, as well as learn about Jesus Christ and what he did for them. They offer sponsors the chance to change a child’s life, to create a unique and personalized relationship with that child, and to bring that child out of poverty and provide them with so many more opportunities than they ever would have had. Compassion International does such an amazing job of showing compassion. Anyone can sponsor them and help provide for them, which means that you literally change their life. My family has sponsored 6 different children over the years and some of the have graduated the program. It has been amazing to watch our children grow! I have my own child that I sponsor as well and it’s been an amazing opportunity. If you want to check out Compassion click here.

Compassion is not only a feeling of grief, sorrow and suffering, but it also combined with the act of changing that. Jesus shows us the ultimate example of what compassion is like, by dying on the cross for us. We are called to be compassionate to others just like Jesus was compassionate to us and not only grieve and suffer with them but to do something about it, because we have had compassion poured out on us through Jesus’s death. Our response to the grandest act of compassion that has ever been or

will ever be done by Jesus Christ, is to love others, to love them as ourselves, and show them acts of the same compassion which we were showed.

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