Godly Compassion
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When we think of compassion we are often considering the compassion humans have for others. A compassionate person is one who is sensitive to the suffering or difficulties of others and empathetically endeavors to meet their needs.
We can better grasp what it means for humans to be compassionate by learning about God's compassion.
Compassion in a person is a very valuable trait. People who aren't compassionate tend to be hardened to others; they lack empathy and show little favor and mercy to those who are in difficult circumstances, either emotional or physical. Human compassion is worthy of close consideration, but what does Scripture teach us about God's compassion?
When Moses asked God to show him his glory, the Lord responded by placing Moses in the cleft of a rock and covering him with his hand while his glory passed by. The protection of the rock and of God himself was necessary because no fallen, sinful human can stand to see God's face and live (Exod. 33:20). Yet, what is most significant is what God said about his goodness:
"I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." (Exod. 33:19)
Grace and mercy are attributes that describe God's compassion.
By his words to Moses, God declared the nature of his goodness, which shows itself in his sovereign graciousness and mercy. Grace and mercy are attributes that describe God's compassion. When Paul refers to this Old Testament scripture in Romans 9:15, he translates it from the Hebrew with the Greek word that commonly means compassion:
For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
When we consider the goodness of God, compassion should come to mind—God's compassion that he shows to those who are his by his mercy and grace. The Bible contrasts God's compassion with that of the wicked. Proverbs 12:10 says,
Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
The proverb makes the point that regard (i.e., compassion) even extends to animals, but the main point is in the antithetical parallel. In the second part of the verse the word translated "mercy" is sometimes also translated "compassion" (see also Isa. 54:8; Dan. 1:9). In this regard the proverb makes that point that a righteous person even cares about his animal, but the wicked's compassion is cruel. Rather than love, mercy, and grace being the motivations behind compassion, it is cruelty that motivates the apparent compassion of the wicked, which is no compassion at all.
Compassion comes from a sincere, loving, forgiving, and unselfish heart.
God's compassion provides us with the model of what Christian compassion is. Grounded in God's goodness, compassion is merciful and gracious. It comes from a sincere and loving heart that has regard for other people (and even the animals who labor for us) when they may find themselves struggling with the difficulties and sufferings of this world. It looks to another's needs and gives help by meeting those needs.
Loving compassion means giving up ourselves for the good of another person, just as Christ looked to the interests of others and gave up himself to redeem his people from a life of sin and death (Phil 2:4-8). To be like our merciful and gracious Savior, we also need to relate to others with hearts filled with compassion.
This article is adapted from “‘Our Compassionate God” in BCL's September 2022 Newsletter.
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