How to HumanSample

Be Compassion

Compassion isn’t supposed to be just about those people who stick to your belief systems. That’s not how Jesus did compassion. When I think about compassion and Jesus, I think of His story about the lost sheep from Matthew 18:

What do you think? If a man has 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the 99 on the hillside and go and search for the stray? And if he finds it, I assure you: He rejoices over that sheep more than over the 99 that did not go astray. (Matthew 18:12-13)

Now let’s think about these ninety-nine sheep for just a second. They must have been like,“Hey Shepherd! Why you leaving us for that straggler? It’s his own fault for getting lost! He had the chance to stick with us, but he decided to risk it!”

But the Shepherd left the flock and went after one sheep. He went to find the one that probably didn’t do things the way the rest of those that followed Him did. He went after the one.

So here’s a good start to getting our compassion back.

Go after the one.

No, seriously.

Go after the one that left and got lost. Who’s left out? Who’s forgotten, overlooked? Go after them.

And don’t go after the one simply to bring them back to wherever you are. Maybe they left the group you lead because they didn’t want to hang out with all the other sheep following you. Whatever their reasons… go after them.

Go find them wherever they are and let them know that they are loved. Tell them that you’ll love them if they decide to come back and hang with you, and that you’ll love them just as much if they don’t come back at all. Because the point of going after the one isn’t to bring them back. The point of going after them is to show them true compassion. That kind of compassion is what has been missing in our world in recent years. If we want to get back to Being Human, we must recover our compassion.

Who comes to your mind when you think of someone who is left out or overlooked? What could you do to show that person compassion? What inner hurdles or prejudices might you need to overcome to look out for that person?