“Compassion calls us beyond ourselves.”
So, what exactly is compassion? How do we understand it? And what role does it play in our lives?
Compassion has nothing to do with feeling sorry for another person. Compassion doesn’t come from a place of power, control or prestige. Compassion isn’t about rescuing another or trying to make a person feel better, although the outcome of compassion may look like that.
Compassion begins when I step out of myself, recognise my own fallibilities, and seek in some small way to walk in the shoes of another and to enter generously into another’s point of view with no judgement. It involves moving away from the ego that tries to define and determine who I am and what I do. Instead, I step aside and welcome the other person into the space I take up and see them and listen to them perhaps for the first time. Compassion is the natural outcome of God’s grace. Grace and compassion are inseparable. One naturally leading toward the other.
Download the Bible study guide written by Pastor Doug to dig deeper into “compassion.” Use it individually, as a household, or in your Life Group.