Do I have Compassion?

"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd."
Mark 6:34
     Recently a friend of mine and I were having a nice chat about various things. We came across the topic of our college group (which we both are a part of leading), and talked about how we wanted to lead the upcoming semester. As we were talking, a question was proposed to me that took me off guard- "do you really care about people"? I got a bit defensive and was about to say "of course", but then I really thought about it. Do I really care about people?
     One of the amazing things about Jesus when He walked this earth is that He had compassion on people. It's so easy to take that simple fact for granted. If we stop to think about it though, Jesus caring about people is crazy. Why should the Lord of lords and King of kings even bother to have compassion on the sick, hungry, and poor? Why should Jesus have compassion on you and me? He saw how broken and lost we were, and He came to our rescue by way of the cross.
     When we look at Jesus, and specifically the cross, having compassion on others should be easy. If the Son of God could have compassion on me, I should have no trouble showing compassion to others. I thought about why it's so hard to really care about others. I think one reason is that I am so focused on myself. I want my life to be comfortable, and reaching out to others puts my comfort at risk.
     Mark 6 describes when Jesus fed the five thousand. His disciples wanted Him to send the crowd away, since there were so many people. Jesus had compassion on the crowd, and told the disciples to feed them. The disciples didn't want to deal with the crowd, because it meant that they would have to find money to buy them food. Also, they would have to distribute food, which would take a lot of effort. They didn't even think it was possible to feed so many people, which in reality, was true. However, Jesus challenges them to share in His compassion. Notice that Jesus tells the disciples to distribute the food. Jesus could have just made food appear in everyone's lap, but He invites the disciples to share in His compassionate work.
     Jesus is also calling each of us to have compassion on the world. Sometimes it seems uncomfortable, or even impossible, like feeding five thousand people. However, if we just dismiss others, we not only prevent them from hearing the gospel- we miss a chance to grow our character to be more like Jesus. We are called to love others not just for their sake, but for ours.
     The obvious question is how we can grow in our compassion. I don't have all the answers, but I have two thoughts. The first thing we can do is to fix our eyes on Jesus. If we remember His compassion on us, it will be easier to have compassion on others. Second, we can start small. The disciples didn't suddenly have the ability to feed five thousand people. They started with five loaves and two fish. They started small, and Jesus worked through them to multiply their offering. I'll be the first to confess that it is very difficult for me to truly have compassion on others. However, Jesus calls each of us to share in His compassion. I want to grow in my compassion, and I hope you are inspired to grow in compassion as well.
-Smart
(P.S. This post was pretty different from what I first planned, but I think it covers what I wanted to share. I hope you enjoyed it and were inspired.)