Compassion: Kind of a Big Deal

Compassion, is a subject sort of near and dear to my heart I guess you could say. Some people have told me that I can be too compassionate and this will get me into trouble. Maybe it's because I'm an INFP and it's just the way God made me. I don't know. I do know that it is possible to be too compassionate. But I also know there is also a thing as not being compassionate enough.

So I'm going to talk about that a little bit tonight. Of course, lets start with a verse or two. And I'll give you the definition of compassion.

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them"~Matthew 7:12

"Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: [he is] gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous."~Psalm 112:4  

"Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,  compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and,  if one has a complaint against another,  forgiving each other;  as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." ~Colossians 3:12-13

NOUN

noun: compassion · plural noun: compassions

sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others:
"the victims should be treated with compassion"
synonyms: pity · sympathy · empathy · fellow feeling · care · concern ·
solicitude · sensitivity · warmth · love · tenderness · mercy · leniency · tolerance · kindness · humanity · chariy
 

Compassion can be many things.
Sometimes it's giving food or clothes to someone who has none.
Sometimes it's seeing a grieving person and giving them a hug.
It can be seeing someone who needs a friend, and you step in and become the friend they needed.
It can even be as simple as offering a kind word.

I think one of the world's biggest problems is it's lack of compassion. Of course this is the result of the Fall, but we should not use that as an excuse. God commands us to be compassionate and so we need to make it a priority.

Now you might say; "well I'm just not all squishy-feely like that," or "well I'm just not a compassionate person." But let me ask you, dear readers; Do you think God is going to accept that kind of excuse?

Everything that we do-or don't do-has to be answered for at the end of this world. We are going to have to stand before God. What are you going to say to him?

"I'm sorry God, I just was too busy to help out with my Church Food Drive today."

"Well I didn't think about helping that old lady with her groceries Lord. I had somewhere to be."

"I didn't think I had to apologize to my friend for hurting his feelings. I mean, he should've gotten over it right? I figured he knew I didn't mean it."

"No I didn't bother to stop and try to understand someone's POV on things. It would have been stupid anyway."

Somehow, I don't think God is going to like any of those answers, especially when he was compassionate enough towards us to punish his only Son so that we wouldn't burn in Hell.

So here is my challenge to you. Make more of an effort to be kind and compassionate from now on. Think about how God would want you to act towards the person in front of you or how he would want you to respond to a situation. Does it take work? Of course it does! Nothing God asks us to do is easy. But we still have to do it, because we are His Children.

Jesus performed the ultimate act of compassion towards us. How can you do any less for anyone else?