Tag Archives: being compassionate

September 8, 2025 · 5:48 AM

A Heart Of Compassion

I knew a girl who grew up in church, but started going out to clubs once she hit 21. It wasn’t long before she posted she was pregnant. Her posts stated how she needed help as a single mom. After the baby was born she struggled to find a job to pay enough for someone to watch her baby. She bounced from job to job and apartment to apartment with each post stating how hard life was. The more posts she made, honestly the less compassion I felt for her situation. I went from wanting to help with baby items to she put herself in this situation. My heart began to grow hard instead of seeing her through the eyes of compassion. She is just one example of a shift in compassion in my life. It challenges me to want to be more like Jesus instead.

In Matthew 9, Jesus talked about how healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. He raised a little girl from the dead, He called a tax collector to follow Him and healed a blind person. The chapter starts to wrap up with a comment about Jesus going through many towns and then an observation from the tax collector. He wrote, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (NLT). He never quit having compassion on people whether their predicament was self inflicted or not. He recognized they were confused and helpless. Then in the very next verse Jesus said the harvest is great, but the workers are few. I wonder if the workers are few because of our lack of compassion.

Colossians 3:12 says, “You are always and dearly loved by God! So robe yourself with virtues of God, since you have been divinely chosen to be holy. Be merciful as you endeavor to understand others, and be compassionate, showing kindness toward all. Be gentle and humble, unoffendable in your patience with others” (TPT). Robing ourselves with the virtues of God is an act we must do that doesn’t come natural. We must become merciful as we see others in their needs and compassionate as we show kindness to everyone. The way we do that is to be gentle and humble towards them whether they created their mess or not. Jesus modeled these virtues for us to follow as His workers in the field. If you struggle with this sometimes like I do, ask God to give you eyes to see people the way He does and to have His heart of compassion.

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June 21, 2024 · 5:26 AM

Being Compassionate

One of the most well known parables of Jesus is The Good Samaritan in Luke 10. In the story there was a man who was beaten up badly, robbed and left for dead. The ones who were supposed to help, the priest and the Temple assistant, wouldn’t even look over at him. They even crossed the street to pass him by from the other side. Then verse 34 says, “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him” (NLT). That compassion came from an awareness of his suffering and his desire to relieve it. Jesus then finished the parable by telling us to go do the same. He wants us to have compassion on those suffering around us. He wants us to love our neighbor and to help them in their time of crisis by showing them His love.

Here are some Bible verses on God telling us to be compassionate.

1. Thus has the Lord of hosts said, “Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion, to each other; and do not oppress or exploit the widow or the fatherless, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise or even imagine evil in your hearts against one another.”

Zechariah 7:9-10 AMP

2. Finally, all of you be like-minded [united in spirit], sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted [courteous and compassionate toward each other as members of one household], and humble in spirit; and never return evil for evil or insult for insult [avoid scolding, berating, and any kind of abuse], but on the contrary, give a blessing [pray for one another’s well-being, contentment, and protection]; for you have been called for this very purpose, that you might inherit a blessing [from God that brings well-being, happiness, and protection].

1 Peter 3:8-9 AMP

3. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Colossians 3:12-13 ESV

4. Above all, constantly echo God’s intense love for one another, for love will be a canopy over a multitude of sins. Be compassionate to foreigners without complaining.

1 Peter 4:8-9 TPT

5. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

Luke 6:36 NLT

Photo by Hanna Morris on Unsplash

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January 25, 2021 · 6:01 AM

Becoming More Compassionate

If you have social media, you’ve probably noticed a couple of different types of people. One airs all their laundry on there for the whole world to see. Another type uses the platform to boast about the bad things they’ve done as if they were a badge of honor. Yet another doesn’t put any of that out there, but you hear the gossip about their life in other ways. I have a confession to make. I tend to judge these people in my heart (and sometimes out loud) based on their behavior. I forget that these things are a result of their brokenness and need for healing, and I steer clear of them or block their posts. I initially don’t see them as a cry for help or grace, and I have to be reminded of that fact often. Hopefully you don’t suffer from this as well.

When I read the story of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well, I can’t help but think how Jesus knew her dirty laundry and still offered her grace. In John 10:4 Jesus said, “If you only knew what God gives and who it is that is asking you for a drink, you would ask him, and he would give you life-giving water” (GNT). He didn’t make fun of her for having been married five times or shame her because she was living with a man who wasn’t her husband. Instead He offered her forgiveness and healing through His living waters. She went and brought everyone from her town out to meet Jesus. As they approached, Jesus tells his disciples, “You have a saying, ‘Four more months and then the harvest.’ But I tell you, take a good look at the fields; the crops are now ripe and ready to be harvested!”

How many times have you and I looked at the harvest and saw their brokenness as an excuse to withhold grace? We think they’re either too far gone, not ready yet or we don’t feel comfortable sharing with them. We need to remember Jude 1:22-23 when we begin to have these thoughts. It says, “Keep being compassionate to those who still have doubts, and snatch others out of the fire to save them. Be merciful over and over to them, but always couple your mercy with the fear of God. Be extremely careful to keep yourselves free from the pollutions of the flesh” (TPT). What the broken people around us need is the compassion and mercy of Christ. They don’t need our jokes or the names we call them.

Lord, open my eyes to see the brokenness of others and to have compassion. Give me the courage to share your grace with them the way you showed it to the woman at the well. Open my eyes to see the harvest that’s around me today. Use me as an instrument of your grace to save those who are perishing. Forgive me for failing to do this in the past. Amen.

Photo by J W on Unsplash

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