Pity or Compassion?

Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”

  Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.
Matthew 8:1-3

Did you realize that there's a difference between "Pity" and "Compassion"?  Sadly we have been lead to believe that they are one in the same, but that's just not true. They are vastly different as coffee is to sand.  

You see, pity can be done from a difference at our convenience and then can be forgotten.  Take, for example, all of the advertisements showing terrified animals with the voice-over sounding as if they are about to cry while telling you that all you have to do to save all the animals in the world is send them your "gift" of $19.00 each month (and they'll sent you a blanket or t-shirt or stuffed animal).  Pity gives you the option to send them the check and do nothing else or just do nothing else.

Pity gives you a warm fuzzy feeling when you throw up a hashtag on Social Media and change your Avatar to the latest popular crisis, but what do you actually DO to help?

You see, COMPASSION drives us to action!  Let me say that again, COMPASSION DRIVES US TO ACTION!  If we see someone who is has suffered the loss of a loved one, and you have also experienced such a loss, compassion will drive you to seek to comfort that person.  If you see someone who is hungry, Compassion will drive you to help them get food because you understand what being hungry feels like.   Compassion is driven by empathy, because we have an understanding something of what the other person is feeling, experiencing, or thinking.

When the leper approached Jesus and asked for healing, Jesus understood what it felt like to be rejected and despised and the loneliness of facing every day knowing you were not welcome.  Jesus understood that, which generated His compassion, which drove Him to act!  Not only did Jesus agree to help with the leper's physical distress, Jesus dealt with the leper's emotional distress as well when He touched him.

Given the tragedies we have seen over the last year, do you feel pity or does compassion drive you into action of seeking to bring comfort?  

"But I don't know what to do."  Don't you?  Start with those who are closest to you and remind them that they matter to you simply because you understand what it feels like to feel helpless.  You'd be surprised how small acts of compassion can have a HUGE impact!