Compassion
Reading Time: 9 minutes
God is Compassionate
If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. Exodus 22:26-27 NIV
At first glance, this verse from the Old Testament of the Bible may sound like a command, law or rule– and it was. But God doesn’t want us to keep His commands out of obligation or fear of punishment. He has always wanted us to understand His ways, know His heart of love and follow His lead. The key phrase in the verse above is, “for I am compassionate.” God is compassionate and cares deeply about each one of us! God loves us!
We are not saved from our sins by keeping God’s laws but by faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. If we follow the Holy Spirit who lives inside us, we will fulfill God’s laws from the heart. Instead of doing good works out of fear, we produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26) that comes from a heart full of God’s mercy, grace, love and compassion.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV
Jesus was Compassionate
God’s compassion has made it possible for anyone to be forgiven through the sacrifice Jesus paid on the cross. He was God’s perfect Son, the spotless Lamb of God who was slain for our sin– once for all. Jesus is the supreme example of what God’s compassion looks like. By faith in Jesus, He brought us to the Father and filled us with His Spirit. Now we are seated in the heavenly realms with God– the realm of God’s Spirit. He has commissioned us to bring His compassion to the earthly realm in many expressions of His love.
Compassion Evokes a Feeling that Leads to Action
The Lord, Jesus, is our example of how His Kingdom can come to earth through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus felt compassion. We also must be sensitive to feel the compassion of the Holy Spirit as Jesus did. God’s compassion leads us to trust in God’s power to use us to meet the needs of others.
I’m not saying that you always have to have a feeling in order to obey God’s leading. But God created us in His image, and God’s image is filled with feelings like joy, peace, goodness, and compassion. These kinds of feelings show us that our hearts have not become callous but are sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the image of God, the Father, so we can trust His example to help us identify the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Let’s look at some ways Jesus felt and expressed compassion.
Jesus’ Compassion for the Needy
I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me for three days already and have nothing to eat. Mark 8:2 NASB
Jesus had been teaching these crowds of people for three days! They were so hungry for spiritual food that they wouldn’t leave Jesus to go home and eat. He didn’t want them to faint on their way back home for lack of nourishment. In that same situation we might have reasoned that it was their fault for not bringing enough food or that they could have taken a lunch break if they needed it. We might have prayed to the Father that they would make it home alive, but that’s not what Jesus did.
The Bible tells us that Jesus only said what the Father said and did what the Father did. He was following His Father’s heart of compassion! In this situation, Jesus performed a miracle and provided food for over 4,000 people using only 7 loaves of bread and a few fish. After they ate and were full, Jesus dismissed the crowd.
Jesus’ Compassion for the Sick, Demonized & Grieving
When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt [profound] compassion for them and healed their sick. Matthew 14:14 AMP
Jesus didn’t heal the sick because He was obligated to do so as the Son of God. He healed them because He felt profound compassion for them. In the same way, we must learn to be sensitive enough to the Holy Spirit to respond to His compassion.
Jesus tells us to heal the sick, drive out demons and raise the dead in His name. The Body of Christ is growing in faith more and more to be able to do these beautiful supernatural acts of God’s love. But whether we are providing medical assistance, supernaturally healing the sick in Jesus name or taking someone a meal during a time of illness, let it be done because we are expressing the compassion of God.
Jesus’ Compassion for the Lost
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it… Luke 19:41 NIV
The Jewish scriptures plainly described the Messiah’s arrival and suffering as Savior, but most could not spiritual discern who Jesus was because of their spiritual blindness. Israel’s spiritual leaders witnessed Him do many loving miracles, yet they despised and rejected Him. The Good Shepherd, Jesus, wept over Jerusalem because the spiritual shepherds in that day were acting like wolves toward God’s precious sheep. They were not compassionate.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest-ready fields.” Matthew 9:36-37 NET
Even as Jesus suffered on the cross He was filled with compassion and forgave His murderers. At the same time that he was in excruciating pain, He experienced supernatural joy! He knew that His crucifixion would bring many into the safety of the presence of God. We can feel compassion and joy at the same time because our trust is in the One who loves us and has compassion for us.
Jesus said that we who believe in Him would be despised and rejected as He was. When we are persecuted for sharing the Good News of Jesus from a heart of compassion, our response should be more compassion. Some will listen and put their trust in Jesus. They will be saved because we cared about their eternal destiny.
We are Compassionate
Acts of compassion are not things we do for our best friends hoping that someday if we’re in need they will return the favor. God’s expressions of compassion are unconditional, expecting nothing in return. There are no ulterior motives attached to God’s compassion. Freely we have been given and freely we give.
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Philippians 2:1-3 NLT
Growing in Compassion
If you have trouble being compassionate toward others, don’t worry. The Lord will be patient with you and will help you. He knows what you have been through in life. Even though the Blood of Jesus has cleansed us from all sin, our souls need deliverance and our hearts need healing. Our minds need to be renewed as we read the Word.
We are instantly born again into eternal life, but like a baby we must grow. Nobody grows without being fed. We either get our nourishment from our relationship with the Holy Spirit or we become spiritually sick and begin to wither. So keep seeking the Lord and growing in His grace. Do not fear. Be willing to receive His compassion and mercy toward you. As He heals your heart with His love He will help you grow in compassion!
Compassion in Prayer
God’s compassion will lead us to pray for others. We can grow in compassion by praying for others in the secret place of prayer. Interceding for others is a powerful expression of compassion when we join other believers in prayer– in person. We can also display God’s compassion as we pray for people in public places in our communities as Jesus did so many times. When we respond to God’s compassion through prayer we touch the heart of God in a very special way. We are blessed by God when we pray and give of ourselves from hearts filled with compassion.
Not everyone will respond kindly to your genuine compassionate desire to help them– even some Christians. Always be ready to respond with grace. In those kinds of situations it may be best to simply take your compassion into the secret place of prayer and spiritual warfare. Prayer and the authority God has given you against demonic ranks in Jesus’ name is powerful, especially when your motive is pure and your heart is moved by compassion. Our battle is not against people but against the demonic spiritual forces of evil that deceive and hurt people. We have compassion for people in any kind of trouble, therefore we battle for them in Jesus’ name.
God’s Compassion Has No Bounds
God wants everyone to know His mercy and grace– the victim and the abuser, the robbed and the robber, the sick as well as the healthy, the poor as well as the rich. The task for the Body of Christ to show compassion to this hurting world may seem overwhelming. However, God’s plan is amazing! He has placed His children everywhere– all over the world!
Some are able to give financially through Spirit-led ministries, locally and around the world. But all of us can look for opportunities every day to show compassion for the person right in front of us. We can show compassion to our family, church friends, neighbors, people at work and people we meet in the community.
Compassion Displays God’s Love
God’s compassion gives hope, life, and love– not despair. We cannot turn back time and erase every painful event that occurred in every person’s life. But God can certainly use us to bring provision, comfort, encouragement and hope. With God’s compassion, we can bring others to faith in Jesus Christ. We can also see God do miracles and we will see them more and more in these end times. Let us pray for compassion to grow in us while we still have time. Lord, help us to follow Your lead and live like You, Jesus– full of compassion!
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Psalm 86:15 NIV
Light in a Dark World
