Jesus was
going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and
proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and
every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt
compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep
without a shepherd.
Matthew
9:35-36 New American Standard
Bible (NASB)
This is a great example of
what compassion really is: an emotion which inspires action. Jesus felt compassion for the people. He saw
the horrible state they were in (spiritually), and felt sorry for them, but He
didn’t stop there. That feeling led Him to action, to ask God for people to
serve and teach, to lead others to salvation, then He sent His followers to do
just that as He had been doing all along. When we look at others who are
suffering in some way, we should feel sorry for them out of love (not pride or
contempt) to the extent that we are motivated to do something about it.
Sometimes all we can do is pray, but other times there is something we can actively
do, whether it is to lend a hand, do something for them, give them what they
need, etc. A lot of that depends on what God wants you to do, but inaction is
unloving. To feel sorry without acting is to not love. Frankly, it is lazy and
selfish, it is not true compassion. We can’t always be the shepherd people
need, but we can help them find Him. We can pray for them, lifting them up to
Him. We can find some way to help. Feel compassion and do something.
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