The Character of Christ: Acting Like JesusSample

The Compassion of Christ

Compassion is giving hands and feet to caring. It’s to put our feelings of sympathy and empathy into action. Like the book of James says, to care for someone but not act when we can isn’t really caring at all (James 2:15-16). Caring, then, is to be the fuel of compassion—doing all we can for others in need.

If you’ve seen the movie Schindler’s List, you’ve seen compassion. It’s a movie based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved over one thousand Jews from the Nazis. Near the end of the movie, Schindler agonizes over whether he did enough. That scene may or may not be true, but it’s moving all the same. It depicts the compassion of a man who saw a need and wanted to do all he could to meet that need. He wanted to hold nothing back.

As you read through the Gospels, it isn’t hard to see Jesus’ compassion. They speak directly of Jesus’ compassion twelve times, even using a Greek word for it that wasn’t used for anyone else. Jesus was constantly on the move meeting the needs of others. He fed the hungry. Healed the sick. Befriended the outcast. While part of his reason for these actions was to reveal his identity as the Messiah, he also did them out of love and care for people.

Needs, great and small, are all around our kids. To help them imitate the compassion of Jesus is first to pray that God opens their eyes to these needs. To take their eyes off themselves and put them on others. It’s then to let what they see stir their hearts. It’s to be moved by the suffering and needs of their fellow image-bearers loved by Christ. It’s then to do whatever they can, even in the smallest of ways, for those they see. Can they share part of their allowance or part-time-job income to help someone? Can they split their lunch? Can they volunteer at a local homeless ministry? Can they have a yard sale with some of their old clothes or possessions to raise money for missions? These might not seem like much, but God can use these acts of compassion in big ways.

1. What draws you to the compassion of Christ?
2. How might you help your kid(s) imitate Christ’s compassion today?