Compassion: 30 Days of HeartworkSample

Touching the Need

HEART //

Having compassion means we don’t only see the need, compassion means we touch the need. All throughout Scripture the thing that always caught Jesus’ attention was another human being in need. Not only did He see the needs of those around Him, but He was willing to act on their behalf.

During the time Jesus walked on the earth, it would have been considered “defilement,” almost like polluting or contaminating Himself, to touch a person with leprosy. But Jesus cared more for the man than He did about what the culture said was right or what people would think about Him. He lovingly engaged in the suffering the man was facing ─ and touched and healed him. 

It is often too easy for us to close our eyes to the needs of the people around us because we are so concerned with ourselves and what others may think of us. Jesus asks us to love one another as we love ourselves, and says that the world will know we are His disciples by the way we love one another (John 13:35). What does the world see when they look at our lives? When we stop and remember how healing, comforting, and good God’s love has been to us, it’s not hard to want to share that love with others. 

WORK //

Let’s keep our eyes open for opportunities to show the world what God’s love looks like. Dr. Wess Stafford, president emeritus of Compassion International, once said, “It all begins, I maintain, with that powerful and underutilized thing called love. God’s love for the individual is displayed by those people who reflect His love in their words and deeds. It ultimately gets understood and accepted by the child in poverty, and through that individual’s love for others, the world gets changed.” 

Think about those without a family, without a home, who face injustice, and who are not always shown dignity. Refugees of war, those caught in a cycle of poverty, children with special needs living in countries that don’t value them, for instance. Find 15 minutes today to spend in complete silence to empathize with children who have no one speaking up for them or comforting them today.

For your journal: Have you ever had a situation where you’ve felt like someone really cared about you more than they cared about how they looked to others? How did that feel?

Check out this video about a young person named Elizabeth whose life has been changed as she has made personal sacrifices to sponsor a girl living in poverty…