Compassion

Compassion is defined as:

“A deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it”

In a nutshell compassion is a feeling. It’s that uncomfortable feeling that is deep inside of us when we see someone or something hurting. I want to turn that feeling into action. I want to change the noun into a verb.

We are all made in the image of God, so compassion is hard wired into us and comes directly from Him. Throughout humanity and religions there is the common thread of love and compassion.

The Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama has been quoted as saying,

“Love and compassion are necessities not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive”

And also “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”

Islam calls its followers to be compassionate by giving alms to the poor and needy and the central theme of Wicca is “Harm none”.

Throughout the bible God has shown us countless examples of how compassionate and loving He is.

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. – Isaiah 40:11 (NIV)

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. – Mark 6:34 (NIV)

If non-believers in Christ can be compassionate and follow the hard-wiring placed in their hearts by God, shouldn’t we as Christ’s followers lead by example by loving more, doing more, giving more? ???