Tag: compassionate hearts

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Hands That Heal: Compassion in Action

Matthew 14:14 tells us, “When Jesus went ashore he saw a large crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Jesus, tired as he was, exercised compassion to the crowd of thousands as soon as they reached the shore. In a world often characterized by indifference and isolation, showing compassion is more crucial than ever. It requires us to step outside our comfort zones and extend a helping hand to those in need. This can manifest in countless ways, from offering a listening ear to a friend struggling with grief to volunteering to feed the hungry.

Practical acts of compassion can take many forms. Physically, we can offer help with chores, provide transportation, or help fix up someone’s house. We can also contribute to organizations that provide essential services like food banks, shelters, and healthcare clinics. Emotionally, we can offer a shoulder to lean on, a comforting word, or simply our presence. Active listening, genuine empathy, and unconditional support can have a huge impact on someone’s mental and emotional well-being.

Ultimately, compassion is a choice. It is a conscious decision to prioritize the needs of others above our own. By embracing compassion in our daily lives, we not only help those in need but also enrich our own lives with meaning and purpose. As we reach out to others with kindness and understanding, we create a ripple effect of compassion that can transform our communities and make the world a more compassionate and just place for everyone.

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Have Compassion

macro shot of heart shaped cut out

Dr. Diane E. Levin, a professor of early childhood education at Wheelock College in Boston, coined the term “compassionate deficit disorder.” She uses this term to describe the influx of children who lack empathy and meet their needs by exhibiting bullying behavior. Dr. Levin attributes these problems to an increased amount of screen time (causing anti-social behavior), an increase in toys mimicking screens, families who have to work more due to financial stress (thereby increasing screens as a means to occupy their kids), and parents planning activities outside of the home to occupy their kids, where playtime with peers is substituted for time with adults controlling all activities.

In a nutshell, Dr. Levin said to counter this trend adults need to model healthy social behaviors. We all need to model compassion and talk our kids through their problems, rather than punishing them for being anti-social. Our schools are pushing academia over teaching social curriculum. A perfect scriptural summation of the solution is found in Colossians 3:12-14: “Put on, then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

Wow! If adults made this their mantra for the remainder of their lives, our children would have ideal models of healthy, biblical social behaviors. It should not surprise us that as we move further away from biblical norms our societal norms will shift towards chaos. We have the perfect model to imitate in the scriptures!