COMPASSION
Connecting with God’s heart towards His people.
Watch how Kim connects with God through Compassion.
What is Compassion?
Connecting with God through Compassion is connecting with God’s heart towards His people. When you connect with God through Compassion, at times, you may feel lost and isolated in a world that seems cold, blind, and careless. It is important to understand that our drive towards compassion is a powerful gift that God has given us to connect with Him and pioneer Heavenly solutions for the problems we see.
This understanding leads to greater faith as we gain a deeper understanding of how much God cares for people and desires to help them. As you connect with God through Compassion, ordinary moments become supernatural, coincidences become opportunities, impossibilities disappear, and your eyes are opened to the will of God each day.
Compassion is so much more than giving a warm meal or serving the less fortunate. Those are wonderful acts, but compassion also suffers with those who suffer and weeps with those who weep. Compassion means that their pain becomes our pain, and their disappointment becomes our disappointment.
Compassion doesn't observe from a distance, it embraces the realities of the pain, while still representing the goodness of God. It's no wonder the Bible instructs us to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
Compassion changes the world. It can be easy to lose sight of how compassionate the Lord is. The book of James tells us that God is “full” of compassion. In Psalms, He is described as kind, gracious and compassionate towards all His creation.
Yes, God loves mercy and justice, but He also is compassion personified. Compassion can often be described as sympathy or kindness, but the Latin root word for compassion is “compati,” which literally means “suffer with.” Meditate on that for a moment.
Compassion by definition is a verb—an action word. It’s the heart of God towards people that lead us into prayer and to world-changing action. It was compassion that God demonstrated in sending Jesus to us. “For God so loved the world that He gave...” (John 3:16).
Jesus didn’t just come to be kind and sympathetic. He came to “suffer with” us and suffer for us. It was compassion that led Jesus to heal the sick, cast out demons, and carry His cross up a hill to His execution. Before feeding thousands of men and women with a small boy’s lunch, and before opening the eyes of two blind men, the Bible records that Jesus “was moved with compassion” (Matthew 9:27; 14:14)
What does this show us practically? Very simply—Godly compassion unlocks the miraculous. When we connect with God through compassion, we align our hearts with Heaven and bring its limitless possibilities to a lost and dying world.
Your willingness to suffer with others, carry their burdens, and serve them is world-changing. As you move in compassion, you will connect with God deeply and receive His wisdom and grace to pioneer prophetic solutions to problems. And as people receive the compassion that God has called you to show, they encounter The Lord of compassion, who cares so deeply for them that He’s willing to suffer with them.
“But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” Psalm 86:15
Get the Compassion Ministry Plan
Practical ways to connect with God through Compassion:
Pay attention to the burdens God places on your heart for people or different situations. Take those into prayer!
Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in responding to those burdens.
Spend time understanding the complexities and obstacles of those burdens; ask the Lord for His heart.
Serve in areas God has given you compassion for. Then ask the Lord for more of His heart while serving!
Ask God every day for opportunities to demonstrate His compassion.
In moments when you are moved with compassion, ask the Holy Spirit what to do.
Journal these experiences as teaching moments and reminders in your faith journey with the Lord.
Grow in How You Connect with God.
Encouragement
Your value is not in what you do, but in who you are. The Holy Spirit gives you the grace and strength to be the hands and feet of Jesus, but remember that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. It is not your responsibility to take on the weight of the world, but to love people well so they see Jesus through you. When your identity becomes what you do, ask God to tell you who you are and listen to His response.
When you connect with God through compassion, take to heart that you are first a son or a daughter. Take time to receive from the Holy Spirit before you pour out onto people. You can’t pour from an empty cup.
The Father was well pleased with Jesus before He ever started His public ministry. The same is true for you! He is pleased with you not by your works, but because of whose you are.
Suggested Activities
Position yourself where there are opportunities for you to see people and their needs.
Consider helping your church minister to those who are sick, volunteer in a food bank, or to go on outreaches in your city. Serve your church on Sundays!
Ask God to show you how He was “moved with compassion” and be filled with the same power.
Study how the Bible calls us to care for others.
Set aside moments during your time with the Lord to reflect on the times you have cared for someone in need. Ask God to show you the worship in your service.
Ask the Holy Spirit to highlight to you people who need encouragement. Ask Him to speak to you!
Consider going on outreaches in your city and mission trips abroad.
Scripture
Esther 2:11, Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 16:49, Matthew 6:1-34, Matthew 18:12- 14, Matthew 25:31-40, Mark 1:35-39, Luke 10:24-37, John 3:14, 1 Corinthians 12, Colossians 3, 1 Peter 3:8, James 1:27, Hebrews 6:10, 1 John 3:17
Books
Love Does by Bob Goff
Servolution: Starting a Church Revolution Through Serving by Dino Rizzo
In the Heart of the World by Mother Theresa
Compelled by Love by Heidi Baker
Mix It Up
Learning how we connect with God shows us how we can enter into His presence daily. While you may best connect with God through one or a few ways, remember that you can connect with God in all the ways! Use this guide below to help you grow in connecting with God through Compassion by pairing it with your favorite way.
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As you fast, engage in acts of service towards those around you. Though you might be in a time of denying your flesh, pay attention to what you fill yourself with during this time. Take moments that you would normally be indulging in an activity or meal to move in compassion. Ask God to give you spiritual eyes to see the needs of those around you and how God wants to meet those needs today!
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As you connect with God through Adoration, let worship be your battle cry into the burdens God is laying on your heart. Marry your worship with intercession and contend for what the Lord has highlighted to you. Then, ask Him for practical ways to put these into action.
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As you read scripture and meditate, look for times that God moved in compassion. Chew on those scriptures and ask God to give you opportunities to move in compassion. This is an active way you can partner with God’s heart for people!
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As you connect with God through Creation, think about creation through the lens of compassion. Ask the Lord to highlight the acts of compassion He has shown for His creation and what may have inspired His design. Think of God’s compassion in the Garden. Ask the Holy Spirit for revelation.
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In your solitude with the Lord, ask Him to match your heart with His. Let Him fill you up so you can pour out to those around you! Don’t stay in solitude. We were meant to do life in community with one another and bear burdens with one another (Galatians 6:2).
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As you connect with God through Expression, ask Him how this expression can be used to serve someone else. As you create, pray over the person and what this act might mean to them. Let your expression be an opportunity to move in compassion as you intercede for that person or situation.
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Ask God what true compassion looks like. In your daily encounters, engage the Lord in conversation by asking how He has moved in compassion towards others. Ask Him to give you the same opportunities to move in compassion towards those around you. As you hear His heart for others, it softens your heart to love others better.
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As you glean more knowledge through scripture, ask God for practical ways you can apply what you’ve learned to people. How can what you’ve learned serve others? Ask this question in moments you are stirred by new revelation from the Lord so that what you take in can also be poured out on others! Give away your daily encounters!
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Look for opportunities where your movement can be dedicated to a cause or an act of compassion for others. As you connect with God through movement, ask God to highlight people to intercede for.
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Remember God’s compassion for you. God loves you before you love, serve, and are compassionate to others. Take intentional time to connect with God through remembrance of how He sought after you!
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When you connect with God through reformation, you are driven to see injustices made right! You desire God’s heart and justice to be established and every crooked way made straight. Be sure to still walk in compassion for those who need justice. Pray and intercede for people who need to be met with the compassion and goodness of God, which will lead them to repentance!
Don’t know how you best Connect with God?
The Connect With God assessment will ask you simple questions to help you determine some of your top Connect With God Ways!