Everyone Needs Compassion

Everyone needs to know and feel the compassion of others. We are born with an inner longing to feel that we hold value in the eyes of another. As believers, we have an inescapable responsibility to value others not just with our words, but with our actions as well.

During His ministry, Christ reached out to the multitudes. He refused to show favoritism toward a person because of looks, social status, or popularity. Jesus' only requirement was a person's need. When the sick came to Him, Jesus healed them. When the mourning mother passed by, Jesus raised her son. As the lepers approached Him, Christ touched their impurities and made them whole again. The Lord was moved by the suffering of others. He is the very picture of how compassion should be lived out in our lives.

The world has not changed much in the area of needy people since the time of Christ. People still hurt, get sick, suffer loss, grieve the deceased, and feel hopeless. Let's face it, we all are needy in one area or another. There are some who are physically hurting; others lack financially. There are people who need emotional encouragement. And every one of us experience spiritual need. As the Body of Christ, we are here to minister to people with such needs. In doing so, we give the world a glimpse of the God who truly cares for them. And through their understanding of His concern for them, people will respond to the Lord.

Unfortunately, we often fail to recongize the opportunities God gives us to minister to another through meeting a need. In our fast-paced, drive through society we become consumed with the many things on our lists that must be accomplished. We brush by the homeless man as we rush to fill our grocery basket. We honk at the slow moving vehicle on the road in front of us failing to see the despair in the driver's eyes as we speed by. We grow increasingly impatient as we wait in line at the bank not realizing the man in fornt of us is in financial ruin. These eyes of ours become focused on one thing: ourselves. God never intended for us to be so self-absorbed. Through His example in Christ, He gave us a living example of how we are to minister to the world.

I have searched the Scriptures and haven't found one instance where Jesus rushed past a helpless or needy person without showing compassion or concern, or stepped over a beggar annoyed by the man's appearance. I do, however, find my Lord sitting on the edge of a well, in the midday sun, waiting to meet the need of a hurting and desperate woman.

As Jesus traveled the roads during His ministry, He came to rest upon the side of a well in Samaria. He and the disciples were journying to Galilee and the midday sun had reached its peak. Jesus sent the disciples ahead to get food, and He waited by the well. He was not waiting for the return of His friends, however, but for the woman who found it necessary to travel during the heat of the day to retrieve water so as not to bear the scorn of the other Samaritan women. As she approached the well, Jesus looked at her. He did not see her through the same eyes as those who shunned her, but through His eyes of mercy and grace. He saw beyond the exterior of this woman straight into her heart. Her brokenness and shame were apparent. Jesus knew that she did not need His condemnation, but His forgiveness. Through their encounter, she was not the same. Because of His compassion, the woman at the well became whole.

Today we are surrounded by people in situations as lonely and depraved as the woman from Samaria. Many of the people we come into contact with are desperate and needy. However, we fail to see their hearts because we are put off by their appearance or reputation. We quickly sum up others by looking at the outside of the individual. I admit that today sometimes the outward appearance is hard to get around. People wear signs of rebellion, and we feel they have no desire to meet the Great Healer. When in fact they put on an heir of rebellion to hide their insecurity and fear. Thus we fail to see the person who is crying out to be accepted and loved. We turn away and miss the great opportunity to see a shattered identity replaced by security in being an adopted child of the Mighty King.

The lost are valuable to God. The hurting are His passion. Our call is to mimic the heart of God as we reach out to this world in His name.