*Everyone Needs Compassion*

I’ve been thinking a lot about compassion recently. It can take many forms, but the end result is really a love that moves us to action. One definition of compassion that I found is, “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is hurting, in pain, or has misfortune and is accompanied by a strong desire to help the suffering.”

In my travels, I have had what I like to call “easy compassion” on the “least of these.” During my time in the country of Bolivia in South America, compassion for the poor children I saw in the streets came naturally, as I believe it does to most in similar situations. My heart longed to take care of them, to provide for what they were lacking, primarily through food, clothing and quality time together. There were the shoe-shine boys and other young children who sold ice cream and small trinkets. They worked all day in the central plaza, approaching everyone they came across in the hopes to gain a few cents. At that time I wasn’t even a mother yet, but thinking back it’s unbearable to imagine a childhood lacking carefree days for play and parents who love and care. 

This week my husband and I were out with the kids and I saw a mom, possibly a single mom but I’m not positive, sitting down with her two young boys looking very glum. God gave me a heart of compassion towards her, and I was able to start up a conversation. She turned into a different person, started talking to me about her personal aspirations of teaching and how she desired a big family like me but how it “hasn’t happened yet.” Needless to say, I wanted her to know she was noticed and loved. Even though I didn’t know her personally, my God does. Compassion can impact, and we won’t even see all of the effects of it ourselves.

How about compassion for the lonely? There are many who suffer from this, though we as busy people and parents probably don’t ponder their reality. Imagine not having a friend to turn to, feeling the rejection or simple absence of people or family around you. I have seen countless cases of loneliness among the elderly, those who are in nursing homes and feel abandoned by their families who continue on with their “outside lives” while they sit and remember what normal living once was. Compassion should move us to help, to listen, to do what we can to fill the void and point them ultimately to Christ, Our All in All.

Now, what about the people we don’t want to have compassion on? Or, in our human estimation, don’t even deserve it? ISIS. Certain political leaders. Murderers. Sex offenders. Thieves. Child molesters. Human traffickers. People filled with hate, against everything you stand for. Jesus did, does, and will always have compassion for all of the above. Why? Psalm 145:9 states, “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” He made all people, and though they reject God as Their Father and disobey, His love is unending towards them, longing for them to return to Him. THIS TRUTH is NOT found in other faiths, who erroneously believe in a god who will judge based on WORKS rather than the grace of the cross. I know I can’t possibly have compassion on those who hate what is good and cause terrible suffering without God giving it to me.

When I think of ISIS and the little I know about the dreadful suffering they invoke on their captives, a sense of fear and godly indignation consumes me. God is just, He will bring justice, and His revenge will come(Romans 12:19). So, you know what began to develop a heart of compassion in me towards them? I started thinking of the little boys raised under ISIS, taught and brainwashed to use their lives to kill and follow their “god,” who is really Satan in disguise. I pictured these men behind ISIS as tiny babies being born, the innocence and miracles they are, and then how little by little the devil got a hold of their hearts until they became infamous, heartless murderers (truly the exact opposite of the compassion God has placed in all humans, a warning to us of the power the enemy has if we aren’t following Jesus). Picturing them as helpless, harmless babies at one time gave me a sense of compassion and a clearer image of how God has compassion on us, His fallen creation. I may never meet them here on earth, but I can be driven to pray for their souls.

What more can I do? I can ask God to increase my sensitivity and level of compassion towards those who suffer, for those who cause terrible suffering to others, and definitely for those lost without Christ. To have compassion on the lost, we need to recognize what that means. First, all the “religions” of the world are an attempt to know Our Creator and ultimately find rest and peace in some way with Him. A firm reminder: Any belief, no matter how well-intentioned, is a false one according to The Bible and therefore Christianity, if Jesus is not in it. Jesus reiterated while He was on earth, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He never said he was just a prophet or a wise teacher, He always claimed to be God Himself. We must decide whether we trust in Jesus, or if we deduce He was telling outright lies. It is black and white, and for this reason Jesus is the name people shudder when they hear, who causes marvelous unity and yet unsightly division among the human race. He exclusively is Our Savior, but His all-inclusive message can draw those who believe and ask for forgiveness of their sin into His Kingdom (I say it that way because I think Jesus gets a “bad rap” for his exclusivity, but we can’t undermine the inclusivity of his message to sinners everywhere). He is the One who was, and is, and is to come, and the One who The Bible predicted the world did and will continue to reject (Luke 17:25, John 5:43).

Do we practice compassion, in the Biblical sense, towards all people, regardless of if they deserve it? Jesus is our model of compassion; His compassion on us led Him to the most painful and humiliating death on a cross. Furthermore, Matthew 9:35-38 says,“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’ “ If I can begin to see even the cruel, obstinate and die-hard followers of other belief-systems as poor, lost sheep without a shepherd, Jesus’ compassion has overtaken me.

It might be as simple as a smile towards someone who looks sad, a word of encouragement, a hug, a monetary gift, or even silence in the presence of rudeness by others. The cashier at the supermarket, the lady behind you in line, the mom whose kids are not being so cooperative, they may need compassion. God reminds His followers that we just need to be available (2 Chronicles 16:9) to be used as His instruments to demonstrate it and, in doing so, we point others to Our God. 

Listen to the song Everyone Needs Compassion this week. Let us be people of compassion towards the poor, the lost without God, and even towards those who cause suffering. May God make us TREES of HOPE, shining His undeniable, unrelenting COMPASSION, for the world to behold!