The world is rapidly changing; people are struggling with real issues that are weighing heavily on their hearts and minds and placing heavy burdens on their families. Emotions are being poured out on social media outlets. Families and friendships are being splintered because of so many complex issues. This post does not address any one issue. It is a call for compassion, regardless of which “side” you find yourself on.
There is always a much bigger problem than what than the current societal issues; this problem is within everyone, and that is sin. Sin introduced disease, death, and destruction into creation and we still see and experience that today. We all have or will see loved one suffer with diseases and bodies that wear out and eventually die. Some of us have even experienced destruction to some degree, whether that is through the loss of possessions in storms and disasters or financial hardships or other such life altering events. But through all this as we see those around us experiencing these things, we need to have compassion, but what is compassion and how do we demonstrate it?
To have compassion is to show kindness and to be willing to help others. It is putting yourself in their shoes as the saying goes. It is empathy, understand their pain, whatever their experience is. Sometimes we know exactly what they are going through, and sometimes we can only imagine because we have not been in their situation. We do not have to experience loss and pain to have empathy and compassion; that is a complete misunderstanding in today’s culture. Look at 2 Corinthians 1:3-4:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
We experience trials, tribulations, and hardships. We experience loss so that the God of all comfort might comfort us. And we in turn, are then able to comfort others. When we are in need of comfort, God may comfort us through the ministering of others. That is an amazing truth, one which we should not deny others the opportunity to serve in.
Much of the unbelieving world believes God to be a wrathful, vengeful God, although He will unleash His wrath upon sin. He is actually demonstrating His compassion by being patient in delivering His wrath on those who are unbelievers, giving them additional time to come to saving faith. That is not the actions of a wrathful, vengeful God. A representation of His compassion would be the sacrifice of His Holy, Sinless, and Righteous Son, Jesus Christ, who paid the full price of all those who would believe. That is the compassion of God demonstrated for all to see.
So how ought we men of God demonstrate our compassion? I want us to look at another verse, and this verse reveals something deeper to us than the single word characteristic of compassion. We tend to think of compassion as just being kind, and possibly empathetic usually demonstrated as showing someone kindness as they go through some difficulty and possibly understanding their pain through some shared experience. But Colossians 3:12 tells us a lot more. Read it a couple times, slowly and pause through the punctuations.
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Compassion is not a standalone characteristic. You cannot be compassionate without kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. If you lack some of these sub-characteristics, just how compassionate are you going to be with someone who is pouring out their heart and crying on your shoulder?
- A Heart of Compassion
Even though compassion is an outward act, it is driven not by the hands, but by the heart. Just like Jesus on so many occasions when He healed the masses and fed the thousands. He was moved with compassion in His innermost being, His spirit, His bowels (that is His heart). That too is our hearts. Compassion should always start within us. If we are in Christ, we must have a heart to have compassion for others. 1 John 3:17 tells us what the opposite of compassion is:
But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
If we lack compassion, then we lack the love of God. As John continually states throughout his Epistle the sons of God and the sons of the devil are evident by what they display. He is writing specifically about the condition of their hearts. The works of the hands are an outflow of the condition of the heart. If you are one of the redeemed (chosen of God), then you have a new heart (Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26). And with this new heart, we can now love God as He intended us to and love one another as we ought to. Remember the 2 greatest commandments that our Lord and Savior gave?
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:30-31)
That is the key. If we are not loving God rightly, how can we love one another rightly? But this is a two-way street. If we are not loving one another rightly, then how can we love God rightly? Demonstrating compassion is from the heart first. True compassion is an act of love to one another and to the God who compassionately went to the cross.
- Kindness
This is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Most people, when they think of being kind, may think of being friendly, generous, and considerate. And although these attributes are true, they do not encompass the depth of meaning to kindness. True kindness requires something far greater than just a friendly helping hand. It requires a strong hand and a courageous hand from a friend who is near. Does this not describe Jesus Christ?
Was Jesus not a friend who was kind and generous to the lost sheep throughout the land in which He travelled? Whether He was in Judea, Galilea, or even Samaria (Jews and Samaritans had a racial hatred of each other), He healed all that desired to be healed. He fed thousands that where hungry, physically and spiritually, and He raised the dead so that families could be reunited. But the true demonstration of His kindness was His willingness to go to that cross in our place, to take upon Himself our guilty charge. His desire was to do the will of Him who sent Him. “Not what I will, but what You will” (Mark 14:26), He prayed the night that He was betrayed. That took courage and that took strength. True compassion is accompanied by strong and courageous kindness.
- Humility
This is not listed as a fruit of the Spirit, but it is a result and an offshoot of the working of the Spirit. I will speak of humility in much more detail in a future post, so I will say no more here.
- Gentleness
Again, here is one of the fruits of the Spirit, and interestingly, with this attribute, it is not a sign of weakness, but of strength in one’s character. Some might think or say that being gentle means that you allow others to say or do anything to you without regard. This is not a true understanding of gentleness. Gentleness is displayed when someone speaks the truth, even a painful truth, but while doing so, guards their tone in such a way that the truth will be well received. I can put it this way: gentleness is a strong hand with a soft touch.
Jesus demonstrated gentleness all the time, did He not? He spoke the truth, and He confronted sin. Most of the time He was gentle, but firm, “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). Jesus, the God-Man, was fully God incarnate and had all the divine powers and could do all things. We see many miracles being performed throughout His earthly ministry, and yet He is gentle with His people Israel even as they reject Him as their God and Savior. What gentleness He showed. Even knowing how many would refuse and deny Him, He would still choose to go to the cross for them and us. What compassion!
- Patience
This is another fruit of the Spirit that is an attribute of compassion. Without this fruit of the Spirit, compassion is very hollow and shallow, nothing but a self-serving, self-glorifying show piece. We must endeavor to have patience when demonstrating, having, and showing compassion to others. I want to be very clear here, compassion is not easy. It does not flow naturally from us. It is a selfless act, which goes against what our flesh wants. Our flesh wants to be served, not to serve. It does not want to endure patiently, but that is exactly what compassion requires. True compassion will endure because it comes from the God of all compassion.
Our great God and comforter knows what we are and what we go through. He is omniscient and omnipotent. He knows that we are frail in our bodies and our own power, and that is why He has provided His Spirit. It is through His Spirit that we can have joy. It is through His Spirit we can bear one another’s burdens and comfort one another. And it is through our own trials that we learn how to help guide and teach and comfort one another through trials of life.
If you are not a believer in Christ then make today the day that you bow your knee and confess with your tongue that He is Lord and Savior. He did die for the forgiveness of all sins, He did rise from the grave 3 days later, and He is now seated at the right hand of God the Father. The Bible states that whoever believes this word will be saved. Do you believe this in your heart? If you still have doubts, I ask that you pray that the Lord help your unbelief and that you read the Gospel of John over the next 21 days (21 chapters). Consider what you read each day and find someone to talk to about what questions arise through the reading. You may reach out to me through the comment section on this site as well as some excellent sites such as: gotquestions.org and answersingenesis.org.
Men, as Proverbs 27:17 states, “As iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another.” By asking and answering, and by sharing and having conversations we are sharpening one another and making ourselves wiser men where it matters most, men of the Word.
Iron Striking Iron 