Compassion

"I cried because I had no shoes, 'till I met a man who had no feet." Often we get so wound up in focusing on our own wants and needs that we completely overlook the fact that for the most part we are quite blessed. However, because we live in a stuff oriented society we think we need more. This emphasis causes us to have attitudes that keep us from reaching out to others.

Two attitudes that stifle our responsiveness to others are apathy and empathy. Neither of them motivates us to do anything about people's needs. Apathy simply is not caring or even noticing the needs of others. Most of us are not so self-centered that we fall into that category. However, the empathy category does catch many of us. We notice and feel sorry for people's situations, but we do nothing to relieve them. Neither of these attitudes really reaches out to anyone.

The attitude we must develop is compassion. Action results when we have compassion. We see the need. We are truly sorry about it. Then we do something to help alleviate it. When someone is hungry we need to do something to get them some food. When someone is hurting we need to do something to ease that pain. When someone is lonely we need to do something to overcome the loneliness.

Jesus provided the example for us. When people were hungry He performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes. When people were hurting He performed the miracle of healing. When people were lonely He transformed their lives. While we cannot perform miracles like Jesus did, we can be filled with compassion and demonstrate care and concern for others through specific actions. We need to look for opportunities to show compassion daily.