Compassion

I've been thinking a lot about this subject lately. It's interesting how the universe collides to teach us things. One friend mentioned this subject to me, and then like a snowball effect, things happened to continually bring this subject to my mind. Today I had some very clear thoughts about compassion that I wanted to share.

In our religion we believe that part of what Jesus Christ did for us is to take upon him the sins of the world. Another part was also to take upon himself our infirmities. The sacrifice he made for us not only extends to help us when we have done something wrong, but also to when we have pain or suffering. The Bible talks about how He would suffer so that he would be able to comfort His people.

As I thought about this today, it came to me again that this is part of the same reason that we are forced to suffer trials in this life. When we have to suffer things, it gives us more compassion for others who also suffer similar trials. If I suffer illness, then I am in a much better position to comfort others who are ill. When I suffer loss, I am more compassionate of those who have suffered the death of a loved one. I wrote before about those in my life with mental illness. That has given me an understanding and compassion for those who also suffer with this illness.

Although trials are hard to experience in our lives, I am grateful for the lesson in compassion that they bring to me. I hope that I can learn how to better extend that love and compassion to others.