Category: Compassion

My Dearest Sister,
 
​I started this letter thinking that compassion was going to be an easy topic to write to you about. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always thought that I’ve had a great deal of compassion for people. The story of a friend or even a stranger’s struggles almost never fail to stir my heart and cause me to feel as if I am sharing in their sorrow. After all, I thought, who doesn’t feel sorry for the helpless and the sick, or those who are hurting? And who doesn’t feel distraught when they watch a sad movie? Doesn’t everyone feel compassion to some extent? It just seemed like such a straightforward topic that I wasn’t really sure where to begin. That’s when I figured I should probably look up what Jesus had to say about the matter.
​The main thing I noticed was that whenever Jesus showed compassion it was always expressed in the form of an action. Many of Jesus’ encounters with His fellow man begin with the words “He was moved with compassion” and then follow by explaining how He exhibited that compassion to others. Christ even gave us an example of how we are to show compassion in the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke, chapter 10. Maybe you remember the story from Sunday school like I do, but in case you don’t, it goes something like this: A man is walking along a road and gets robbed and nearly beaten to death by thieves. A priest and a Levite each come upon the injured man but pass by him and continue on their way. Then a Samaritan comes along and as verse 33 says, “when he saw him, he had compassion.” Only it doesn’t stop there. Verse 34 goes on to say that the Samaritan “went to him and bandaged his wounds… he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.” And not only that, he paid for the man’s ongoing recovery even after he departed. What a marvelous example of Christ-like love!
​I have to admit, I felt very convicted in reading this parable. I had only been thinking of compassion as a feeling one has towards someone in need but Jesus describes it as an action. The Samaritan didn’t just feel sorry for the poor guy who was left for dead, he actually did something about it! Now, I find it interesting that the Bible doesn’t actually say what the attitude of the priest and Levite were as they passed the man in need. Maybe they felt sorry for him, but were just too busy to stop and worry about it. Maybe the priest was late for the evening sacrifice or maybe the Levite was in a hurry to get home to his wife and children. It really doesn’t matter what their reason for not stopping was, the point is that just feeling bad for someone isn’t enough. Compassion is something that is shown. That got me thinking of how many times I’ve seen someone, whether it’s a friend or a stranger, struggling with something in their life and felt bad for them, but never actually did anything about it. Not even something as simple as praying with them or asking what I can do to help. Maybe I’ve been too embarrassed to put myself out there and risk sounding foolish. Or maybe I’ve simply been too busy worrying about my own life to worry about what’s going on in someone else’s. Whatever the reason, I am a bit ashamed to say that I have been like the priest and the Levite, not the good Samaritan.
​I want to thank you, dear friend, for in writing this letter to you I have learned that compassion is not a feeling but an action; it is a verb, not a noun and I need to start living like it is so. My mind keeps coming back to the fact that God was so moved with compassion for a lost and fallen world that he gave His beloved Son as a sacrifice to save people like you and I. I think the least we can do in return is share just a fraction of that compassion, that Christ-like love, with others. After all, in 1 John 3:18 God gives us the responsibility as His children to “not love in word or thought, but in deed and truth.” I want that to be my testimony. I don’t just want to feel bad when I see someone in need, I want to be so moved with compassion that it shows.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter, and thank you too for praying for me as I am called to action!
Your Sister,
Lauren

Hello, again, Sister,

As I ministered in Colombia, South America, last week, I was taken by the humble way of life that is common for even the privileged.  The Colombian people are experts at restraint, reserve and resourcefulness.  There are those who have much, and those who have little.  

Colombia is rich in natural resources and food supply.  The people hold education in high regard.  Their work ethic is exemplary.  And in ministry, wow!  These Dear Ones are wallowing in the Gospel of Grace.  Colombia is fertile territory for Biblical Truth, and the people desire to learn more about Salvation.  

That desire comes from God’s compassion on Colombian souls.  

God’s compassion is profound, personal and perpetual.  The psalmist spared no words when he described God’s compassion, “As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him.  For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103: 13-14)  The heart is the home where compassion starts.  

When God pities us, He is pouring out His compassion on us—our frailty, our feebleness, our fault.  It is a great place to be—in the heart of God.

As I taught the Book of Ruth to various groups of women, I realized more and more that God is smiling on this beautiful, colorful country.  Sweet Sister, you, I and the ladies at the Bible study in the Andes Mountains are the blessed recipients of God’s compassion that saved us.  

Please continue to pray for my ministry to OUR Sisters in Colombia.  

Blessings to you,

Mimi

 

 

My dear sister,

I am a little nervous to be writing to you, dear one, about compassion, for I feel it is something that I know very little about, or at least I haven’t taken the time to practice it as often as I should. I have realized that I spend so much time thinking about myself that I leave very little time for thinking about others, much less reaching out to them in their time of need. So to change that, this Labor Day weekend as I was thinking about what I was going to write to you, I asked the Lord to teach me compassion. For whom better to learn from than the One who has shown us the greatest compassion imaginable?

I first decided to consult a dictionary on the matter. Webster’s Dictionary defines compassion as “a sensation of sorrow excited by the distress or misfortunes of another; pity.” An accurate definition but I found the definition provided by Dictionary.com of much more use. It defines compassion as “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.” I think we are all familiar with compassion in the sense that we often experience it involuntarily that is without thinking about it. We feel it when we learn that a friend has lost a parent or a child, or when a friend suffers from an accident that leaves them blind or paralyzes them. But how often do we, dear one, purposely practice compassion? Just as our dear sister, Colleen, mentioned, in the Bible compassion is often coupled with an action. Jesus felt compassion for a blind man and he healed him. So we see repeatedly throughout Scripture that this abstract emotion is, more often than not, followed by a concrete action.

Earlier I mentioned that I asked the Lord to teach me compassion. Well, as always, He was faithful. Just yesterday He began teaching me. In this first lesson, He provided an opportunity for me to express compassion to a friend going through a difficult time. As she expressed to me her deepest fears, my heart was filled with sympathy and sorrow for her situation. I wanted to help her through this difficult time as much as I was able. I rejoiced in the opportunity to remind her of Christ’s love for her and to preach the gospel to her, and tell her that God will never forsake her, even if everyone in this world does. I was able to proclaim to her that Christ is able to fill even the deepest longings of our souls and that He will bring us through even the most bitter of sorrows with the most glorious triumph. As her situation persists, I am able to serve as an encouragement to her and this not only lifts her up but also gives me fulfillment as I carry out a God-given role of friendship and sisterhood.

If you, dear sister, feel you need to grow in compassion, as I do, ask the Lord to teach you. He is more than willing to do so and unlike our earthly mentors, He is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

 

In the love of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 

Kayla

My Dear Sister in Christ,
I am acutely aware that it has been a long while since we last sat down together to share our hearts, whether that be our joys or our sorrows. Nevertheless you have been on my mind. The trials which you are enduring have been what I mostly think of and I must admit it causes my heart to become heavy as I think of you in this trial. The Holy Spirit has graciously reminded me that my thoughts are to be taken captive by my Savior. So, with the acknowledgement that He is far greater than I, and with the submission to His wisdom rather than my own, I am praying for you.
My prayer is that you will know the compassion of Christ as you did when you were first given faith to believe. Your heart was enlarged and stirred by the compassionate Savior who gave you a new heart. A heart that melted at the very thought of His love, which in turn gave you the power to practice your faith.
This same compassionate Savior remains in you today. He knows you are weary and He has not forgotten you. This compassionate Savior has promised to never leave you or forsake you and He has also promised to complete the good work in you that He began! (2 Corinthians 16-18; Philippians 1:6) How glorious is that?
As you rely on Him dear sister, and His compassion for you, the peace that passes all understanding will be yours and His glory will be made known through you. Through this trial His compassion will be your compassion so that you may have compassion for those He ordains to come into your life. His compassion compels us to be compassionate to others so that His glory is revealed like that of a spark that catches fire and spreads quickly. (2 Corinthians 4:15)
This is one of the most blessed truths of Christ and how it takes place over and over again in the lives of believers is truly amazing. “And His praise goes on!” as a song once said.  May your compassionate Savior powerfully evoke His compassion within you!

Your Sister in Christ,

Susan

Dear Sister,

I’ve been thinking about my mom a lot lately, maybe because I am now a mom for the first time. The other day I was pondering the legacies she has left me. My mom is a tomboy, she is tough as nails!  She gave me my love of watching football and playing every sport my skinny legs could handle. When I was growing up, she never would let me wimp out of anything and the only time we could stay home sick from school is if we had explosions out one end or the other.  But when we were sick, she was the most compassionate person I knew… or maybe it was empathetic…or maybe gracious person I knew.  Hmmm, which was it?

Certain words have different meanings but for some reason I have stored them in my mind as similes. For instance: yuck and eww, scared and afraid, even stinky and smelly.  I’m sure they have their nuisances but often I find myself using them to illustrate the same point.  I find that this same premise works with compassion, empathy, and even grace.  I could easily substitute one for the other and use them interchangeably.  However, there is a difference.

I found out recently that the Word of God uses the word compassion 48 times and most of the cases it is used in reference to God having compassion on Israel after they had sinned.  In the New Testament the word was used mostly before Jesus healed, fed, or taught someone. So was my mom really compassionate with me when I was sick? I think so.

After looking up all of those references I can tell you that, Biblically, compassion seems to imply empathy (sympathy or understanding) with action.  Dr. Tom Schreiner defines it as “expressing love and concern for those who are hurting and straying”.  It’s not just a feeling; it’s an action!  Compassion causes my mom not only to feel badly for my steaming temperature, but to wet a wash cloth and put it on my head to cool me down.  She didn’t just keep an eye on me, she fed me toast and soup and made sure I had a blanket and the remote.

Grace is yet a bit different, even though I tend to use it as a sister term with compassion.  Grace provides forgiveness and comes from the Lord.  We as believers can be conduits of this grace through the Lord Jesus, but God is the author of grace.  My mom gives me grace when I sin against her by forgiving me when I don’t deserve it and she can even give me compassion if the consequences of the sin so merits.  This is similar to the father of the prodigal son who in compassion ran to his estranged son, clothed him, put a ring on his finger and threw him a party…and in grace, forgave him for squandering his inheritance and sinning against his father’s name.

So where does that leave us sweet sister?  Christ is our example of compassion, he not only came to earth to understand and feel what we do as humans, but he died to pay the sin debt that each of us owes.  Since Christ has shown us this perfect compassion, we can now show this compassion to our families and friends!  By visiting an elderly widow and making her tea or by mowing the grass for a neighbor who is a single mom!  By listening and crying with a child who had a bad day or perhaps embracing a friend or family member that has harmed us in the past with an open heart. My mom left me more legacies than I can count, but compassion was definitely one of them.  What legacy of compassion will you leave your family?

Blessings from your sister,

Colleen