Quotes about Compassion

At the judgment Jesus will not ask us about our gifts. He will ask if our cheeks have touched the cheeks of those who suffer, if our hands have held the hands of those who endure pain, and if our gifts are directed at those who most need them.

Instead of striking back, which would be both justifiable and equal retribution and a part of Moses' "no mercy" law, Jesus creates an almost laughable scene of grace: "turn to them the other cheek also." This is how Jesus did respond (Matt 26:67).

But their peace will never be greater than when they encounter evil people in peace and are willing to suffer from them."48

The church is the place to get the kind of help you need" and to "love you to wholeness.

To love enemies breaks through the self barrier into divine space.

Jesus himself was law observant, but what distinguished his praxis was that he did so through the law of double love. To do the Torah through love is to do all the Torah says and more.

are challenged in this passage to discern who it is whom we treat as enemies—those we claim to love but don't, those who never sit at table with us, those we label and libel—and to convert enemies into neighbors by simply extending love to them. Love is to treat others as we treat ourselves, and it is the rugged commitment to be with someone as someone who is for them in order to foster Christlikeness.

we must learn to distinguish moral discernment from personal condemnation.2 This distinction—the ability to know what is good from what is bad and to be able to discern the difference versus the posture of condemning another person—enables us to see what Jesus prohibits in this passage.

John Wesley said this well: "The judging that Jesus condemns here is thinking about another person in a way that is contrary to love."3

Calvin saw in the words "Do not judge" a tendency to become overly curious about the sins of others (including those closest to us) that needed to be checked and handed over to God—who alone is the Judge.

If you complain to someone, you assume that it's someone who really cares about you.

I'm a good man with a good heart had a tough time, got a rough start But I finally learned to let it go.