The Big Picture: Compassion

by

Practicing Faith

Oboedire | February 28, 2026 

When virtue is alive in us, compassion will flow from us. All the world’s religions view compassion as the outward sign that the love of God is in our heart. [1]

Jesus modeled this when he saw people in need “and had compassion for them” (e.g. Matthew 9:36, Matthew 15:32). His daily ministry of teaching and healing was set in the context of compassion. It is mind-boggling to hear people today (some claiming to be Christian) saying that empathy is a sign of our weakness. This is the exact opposite of what Jesus taught and how he lived.

But in the self-centered world we live in today, the false claim about compassion is not surprising. Pema Chödrön calls out the lie from the vantage point of Buddhism,

“Compassion is threatening to the ego. We might think of it as something warm and soothing, but actually it’s very raw. When we set out to support other beings, when we go so far as to stand in their shoes, when we aspire to never close down to anyone, we quickly find ourselves in the uncomfortable territory of “life not on my terms.” [2]

Compassion is so clearly high on the scale of human virtue because Jesus said that our purpose in life is to treat others as we want to be treated (Matthew 7:12), loving our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39). Compassion is the sign of our neighborliness. [3] Again, the world’s religions say so too.

We know what the Message is, no matter what some say.

[1] The inward sign that God’s love is in us is humility, the first Beatitude (Matthew 5:3).

[2] Pema Chödrön, Living Beautifully (Shambhala, 2019), 61.

[3] Walter Brueggemann, Poverty in the Promised Land (Fortress Press, 2024).

The Rev. Dr. Steve Harper is retired seminary professor, who taught for 32 years in the disciplines of Spiritual Formation and Wesley Studies. Author and co-author of more than fifty books.. He is also a retired Elder in The Florida Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.