ANOTHER KIND OF COMPASSION AND KINDNESS

Luke 7:11-17 Colossians 3:12-14

Compassion is the ability to feel sympathy or pity for another person. It is a feeling that causes a man to understand what a person is going through or have gone through. Your compassion is only as deep as your revelation. For many people, their compassion is relegated to sympathy alone.

Kindness is offering to help; bringing help that is useful to the person in need of it. Where compassion is internal, kindness is an outward expression of generosity based on sympathy. Kindness is expressing generosity, to be favorably disposed towards another persons plight.

God is intrinsically/inherently kind and compassionate; it is His nature to be kind and compassionate. Everything that God does is good because God's nature is good. This also applies to Christians.

*SYMPATHY- this is a feeling of sorrow emanating from another persons afflictions and pain. As Christians we are not called to just express sympathy alone, you cannot be filled with compassion and do nothing. Heb. 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of race, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." KJV

A kind person will be compassionate and a truly compassionate person will be kind. People who lack compassion will often struggle with kindness, generosity and giving.

*GIVING OF MATERIAL THINGS. A compassionate person can not help but express kindness by giving material things. One of the problems of our society today is that we have men who do not have compassion as leaders. 1 John 3:17 "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" KJV

Where compassion is a feeling, kindness and cruelty is a choice. To refuse to feel is to refuse to help. Heb. 10:34 "For ye had compassion on me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance." KJV

~Paul Bamikole