Compassion is not just sympathy. It is empathy. When it comes to dealing with difficult people, we mistakenly equate compassion with “fixing” them. Genuine compassion is first able to feel their pain. I believe one of the reasons we encounter and are commanded to deal with sandpaper people is because the more pain we experience, the more compassionate we will be. We must learn to use our pain in the right way, not lashing out, but looking within to share the pain of others. There is a choice in every pain, an opportunity in every trial. Pain makes us focus inward or outward. It makes us martyrs or merciful. The choice is ours. The Samaritan chose to use his pain and help an injured man. He understood the man’s pain because of the pain in his own life. The Jews hated all Samaritans. The man lying on the road was a Jew. There was no logical reason for this Samaritan to rearrange his plans and spend his money to help this “enemy” or “sandpaper person” in need. But compassion doesn’t look for reasons or search out limitations. It searches for opportunity. The Samaritan had a choice, just as we have a choice every time we are confronted with a need. We must adjust our thinking to understand that sandpaper people are needy people. We can either ignore the need, or we can meet the need by giving away part of the comfort God has given us when we have been in pain. Galatians 6:2 (NLT) “Share each other’s troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” If we can’t prevent pain, we can at least lighten the load with compassion. Alan Redpath wrote, “You can never lighten the load unless you have first felt the pressure in your own soul.” Compassion makes us willing to feel the pain of others, responding as if it were our own.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 09:39:09 +0000
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