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On Compassion

 

1 peter 3:8 
Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:  

Compassion is a compound word that consists of mercy and grace. It is a deeper dimension of love that goes from showing kindness to people for your sake to showing kindness to people for their sake. It is one thing to show kindness to someone because it is convenient or you have the capacity to do so, it is another thing to go out out your way to to reach out to someone FOR THEM; now that's compassion. It is being pitifully kind, and 'the-other-person' oriented.

It takes compassion to be able to genuinely forgive or administer healing to someone. This is because it shifts away from doing it for your conscience sake to doing it to and for the other person with the understanding that they can not help themselves. When you forgive a person who wrongs you from the understanding that they are 'blind' and need help because they do not know what they are doing, it becomes easier to forgo the pain of what has been done, seeing that you have made excuses for them. Jesus showed a clear example of this sort of compassion at the cross to those who thought they knew exactly what they were doing in crucifying him; but on the contrary Jesus said 'Father, forgive them; FOR THEY KNOW NOT what they do' ( Luke 23:34). 

So, compassion works only when you have mercy and pity in your heart for the other person...and that without trying to consider or get logical about what they have done. 1 Peter 3:18 pointed it out when it said 'having compassion one of another,...be pitiful'. Ps 86 :15 also described God as being full of compassion...and plenteous in mercy and truth. This played out when Jesus healed a leper and fed five thousand people; of the leper, mark 1: 41 recorded that he was moved with compassion...and touched him and made him clean, and in chapter 8 :2 he said of the people : I have compassion on the multitude, because they have been with me three days and have nothing to eat; and in so doing thousands of lives were preserved. 

Therefore, to be able to forgive completely and 'be in another's shoe', you need to develop the virtue of being compassionate which can only be attained by being merciful. May you have the sufficient grace to walk in the light of this truth and practice compassion. Amen. 

God bless you.  

Comments

  1. Sent WordsFebruary 27, 2020 at 5:33 AM

    If you have questions, comments or would like to contact Sent Words, please drop them in the comment section, or via email at dsentword@gmail.com.

    Looking forward to hearing from you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sent WordsMarch 5, 2020 at 1:08 PM

    Amen. God bless you too!

    ReplyDelete

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