To be compassionate is to enter into another person's shoes, without any agenda of trying to change the other person. When I enter into another person's situation, I will stop judging because I will realize that each person has a reason for every decision he or she makes. Others can only see what is external, but they always come from something within which others don't know or may not even enter their minds. Doing this will lead me to understanding. I may not agree, but there is respect for the other person's time and circumstances.
But this will only happen after I have had a deep experience of God's mercy, His non-judgmental love that still accepts and embraces me, warts and all.
Beautiful picture. I love that heart shaped rock in the stream! I find that compassion is more the act of loving someone; Jesus so often showed compassion for people. Empathy is the act of being able to place myself in someone else's shoes. I find empathy much harder than compassion.
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