Jesus demonstrated compassion wherever He went. He taught that we must care for ‘the least’ among us (Matthew 25:40). The New Testament church continued His ‘brand’ by doing away with racism and lots of other ‘isms’. ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female…you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3:28 NKJV). Following Christ means showing compassion to everyone, whether you like them or not. You’re called to practise compassion where you work and where you live. Jean Henri Dunant couldn’t endure the sound of soldiers crying on a battlefield after they had been wounded, so this Swiss philanthropist said he would dedicate his life to helping them in Jesus’ name. As a result, he started the Red Cross in the 1860s. Every time you see it, you see a thumbprint of Jesus. A Lutheran pastor in Germany named Theodor Fliedner taught a group of mainly peasant women to nurse the ill. This led to a development of hospitals all over Europe and inspired Florence Nightingale to give her life to tend the sick. Father Damien, a Belgian priest, worked in Hawaii in the nineteenth century and established a place where lepers could be loved and tended to. Each week he would tell them, ‘God loves you lepers.’ And then, one week, he stood up and said, ‘God loves us lepers.’ He died from leprosy. Jesus said of every unwarranted act of kindness shown towards someone, including those who don’t deserve it, ‘you did it to Me’ (Matthew 25:40 NKJV).

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.