Compassion

Compassion

Webster's dictionary defines compassion as "sorrow for the sufferings or trouble of another or others, accompanied by an urge to help." Compassion is a wonderful virtue. It actually feels good. To help another person in their trouble with the proper motivation that is from divine compassion is supremely satisfying. And it has the added benefit of not having any thought about yourself. When compassionate you are occupied with another. Our Lord had a lot of this. MAT 14:13-14 Now when Jesus heard it, He withdrew from there in a boat, to a lonely place by Himself; and when the multitudes heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. And when He went ashore, He saw a great multitude, and felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.

MAT 15:32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "I feel compassion for the multitude, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not wish to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."

LUK 7:12-15 Now as He approached the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, "Do not weep."  And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise!"  And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

Some children wanted to come up close to Christ and the disciples reprimanded them, MAR 10:13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. Kids are loud, obnoxious, and often quite annoying, yet they are in need of love and compassion.

It's easier to look the other way or to be cold toward the trouble of others. I've often been quite quick to throw a Bible passage in the face of a suffering person rather than actually helping them. A verse only takes a moment of my time. Actual help takes much more time and sacrifice. It's also easier to say, "I'll pray for you," than to determine to do something. We should pray for those who are suffering, but we should also help in any proper way that we can. JAM 2:15-16 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

MAT 10:40 "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. This verse reveals that what we do for others is what we are doing for the Lord. To ignore our suffering neighbor is to ignore Him.

Yet, as with all divine virtues, they have to flow from the true person within. If our hearts are selfish or self-centered then no matter how hard we try or how determined we are to be compassionate, we will never actually be so. Attempts to be divinely virtuous from a hard heart eventually produces cruelty rather than love. "Did they not see what I did for them, and they just spit in my face!" With this attitude we become cruel. PRO 12:10 A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast [compassionate even to his animals], But the compassion of the wicked is cruel. A selfish man only has the gesture and the words of compassion and there is even with that, strings attached in which he is seeking something for himself.

True compassion comes from a heart that is made of compassionate fabric. It is learning of our Lord through the scripture under the teaching ministry of the Spirit that softens a heart by wrapping it in this fabric. It cannot be faked and it cannot come from a fleshly heart. COL 3:12-14 And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

Our Lord came to save and also to heal. This is why He spent time with and ate with the lowest social class comprised of tax gatherers and prostitutes. There were also the very poor and likely criminals who frequented the only places where they were accepted, and the Lord sojourned in their midst, accepting them. He brought them the gospel as well as the freedom of a better life that they hadn't know existed. MAT 9:10-13 And it happened that as He was reclining at the table in the house, behold many tax-gatherers and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax-gatherers and sinners?" But when He heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. "But go and learn what this means, 'I desire compassion, and not sacrifice ,'for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners"

The meaning of Pharisee is separatist. They separated themselves from the common man and the low social classes thinking they would defile their holiness by intermingling with them. They were set apart alright, but not unto God.

When we come to know our Lord Jesus Christ over the years it is amazing and refreshing to see compassion take root in our hearts. A hard heart sees none of the rewards that come from providing for and helping others. A soft heart of compassion has a life full of these rewards and the Father will only bring more and more people into his life who will benefit from his assistance. The hard hearted person sees no one on his horizon who is in need of him. To be compassionate is to be God-like. PSA 72:13 He will have compassion on the poor and needy, And the lives of the needy he will save.

There is a true story about a private secretary to the president of a large commercial firm who was brilliant and had used her rare talents to work her way up to her lofty position. She was a Christian and she had attended a Bible class by Donald Barnhouse. Barnhouse said to the group, "You who have any place of leadership, turn your smile on the underlings who will never have a place of leadership." The next day she was walking through her outer offices and saw a typist, whose dreariness of personality was due to a certain loneliness. The brilliant secretary asked her to lunch. The drab girl thanked her over and over. During the next few weeks the secretary always smiled at her, greeted her, and occasionally lunched with her. Later she said to Barnhouse, "It's a trifle embarrassing. She looks at me like a dog at his master, and some of the other girls can't understand my interest in her." After a few more weeks the drab girl came to believe in Christ as her Savior. The secretary later said to Barnhouse, "I don't think I have ever been happier than when she prayed with me and thanked the Lord Jesus Christ for bringing me into her life, and for the salvation of her soul."

I think we underestimate the impact that compassion has on those around us. We never know how many people we can impact. Christ was compassionate and when we reveal a heart of compassion we are revealing Him.

Love to all in Him,

Pastor Joe Sugrue

Grace and Truth Ministries