Compassion is not a particularly fashionable word is it. According to the Cambridge dictionary it means 'a strong feeling of sympathy and sadness for the suffering or bad luck of others and a wish to help them'. Though fascinatingly the other link was to compassion fatigue.
Compassion in the Old Testament compassion is linked to pity, mercy, tender mercies, in the New testament to having mercy and to have pity. Compassion flows from God's people as they have experiences it from God or seen it modeled in Jesus. It compels them to act, be it alleviate suffering or treat someone mercifully or to share the gospel with thsoe who are lost and therefore in great danger.
We live in times that worry as much if not more about compassion fatigue than a lack of compassion. A Christian counter culture of compassion will stand out as we seek to show God's love to those around us in every way we can.
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