- Pst. Gavin Aleogho
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV
I have often been asked, “why is it that a lot of Christians do not live a life of practical love for their neighbours, despite the fact that a lot is being said about love in Christianity?”
I believe one of the missing components that hinder a lot of Christians from expressing true love to their neighbours is the component of compassion.
It is my discovery that if you lack compassion you can’t show kingdom love to anybody. You can claim to have lip-service love, but when it comes to the practicality of agape love you will be found wanting.
It is the element of compassion that allows us to have pity on our neighbours and go further to show them God’s love, practically. Thus, agape love cannot be expressed when compassion is lacking in our hearts. For compassion is a thing of the heart. It is not a thing of the head.
Compassion is showing sympathy for the suffering of another with the desire to help. Thus, it is not enough to just have sympathy. If it is genuine compassion, you must move to the next stage of asking yourself, “what can I do to help this person?”
Agape love must involve having sympathy for your neighbour who is in need and also the willingness to give a helping hand to get the person out of what he/she is going through.
When we were lost in our sins, God didn’t just have pity on us, He went further to provide a solution to our sinful state by giving His Only Begotten son to die for us.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
Why is compassion vital in the act of showing agape love?
God’s -kind-of-love is transformational in nature. That is, it has the ability to change the object that it loves. But this cannot be achieved without the element of compassion. If you lack the element of compassion in your heart, your love will not be able to change or affect another man.
True love is action and it is aimed at transforming another man’s situation into a better situation. When compassion is lacking, our love only becomes lip services, without the power to change anybody.
For instance, if you are concerned with the sinful state of a neighbour who is not born again, then your compassion should push you to do the needful of praying and preaching the word of God to the neighbour.
In the same vein, if you claim to love your neighbour who is in need, then your compassion should push you to give what you can to help get the individual out of that situation.
So, you can see that compassion is the driving force that causes our love to flow from our hearts to another person.
If compassion must have enough driving force, then it must have the element of sympathy. And sympathy is the ability to understand and show pity or sorrow for the pain or distress of another. Thus, genuine sympathy is given birth to when we understand the situation a person is going through and then identify with the person in question, by putting ourselves in their shoes. That is what is called empathy.
Empathy is the ability to identify with and understand somebody else's feelings or difficulties. It is the act of putting yourself in another person’s shoes so as to feel what they are feeling.
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
Romans 12:15
That was what our Lord Jesus Christ did for us, He identified with our weakness by coming to the earth and putting on flesh so as to feel what we were going through.
Hence, our Lord Jesus Christ knows what it means to be living on planet earth.
He knows what it means to be weak in the flesh.
He knows what it means to be tired.
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Hebrews 4:15.
For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
Hebrews 5:1-2.
It is difficult to give a helping hand to a neighbour when you can’t feel what they are feeling. You have to put yourself in their shoes. If you were in their shoes, how would you want to be treated?
Compassion Is One Of God’s Character
The following scriptures point to the fact that God our Father is a compassionate God.
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.
Psalm 103:13
If we claim to be God’s children, we must also exhibit this attribute of compassion in dealing with our fellow humans.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Colossians 3:12
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV
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