Compassion

What I find striking in the way God is portrayed in the Bible, is how passionately God feels about things. In the book of Exodus God says, “If you do these things (i.e., oppress the stranger, wrong a widow or an orphan, etc.) my wrath will flare up.” In other words, “I’m going to get really ticked off.” And if someone who is in need cries out to God, God says, “I will hear them, for I am compassionate.”

We have a God who is tuned in to us and who wants the best for us as individuals and as a global community, as we try to live good and faithful lives.

So, God is compassionate to us in our needs, and that empowers us to be compassionate to others in their needs. I think there is something to the idea of paying it forward. Cultivating a sense of gratitude for our blessings can lead to a desire to give back, to reach out compassionately where we see the need.

When the Pharisees ask Jesus which is the greatest commandment, he responds that loving God and loving our neighbor as ourself are the two greatest commandments, and that they are equal in importance. Love of neighbor is love of God, because our neighbor, every neighbor, every human being in every place is made in the image of God.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom do I fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom am I afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)