Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; 1 Peter 3:8

In the last Key to Life we looked at this verse in 1 Peter and examined the "be of one mind." But Peter says more. He says, have compassion. What does the word compassion mean? In going through my thesaurus I found words like, "Consideration," "Tenderness," "Empathy," "Sympathy," and "Gentleness."

The very first use of the word compassion in the King James Bible is found in Exodus chapter 2, Pharaoh has decreed that all Hebrew male babies must be killed. Moses mother kept him as long as possible and then placed him in the Niles where Pharaoh’s daughter found him. "And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrews' children.’" Exodus 2:6.

Her father had decreed that the baby should die, but she had compassion. It is a complex word that carries with it a whole world of meaning. If we take just some of the things I have listed here we can see that having compassion for one another we are to be considerate of another’s feelings, cautious, try to understand their feelings, sympathetic, and to be gentle in our dealings with them.

Here is an illustration.

Dear Ann Landers:

I am 46 years old, divorced, with three grown children. After several months of chemotherapy following a mastectomy for breast cancer, I was just starting to put my life together when my doctor called with the results of my last checkup. I was devastated. More cancer.

My relatives had not been supportive. I was the first person in the family to have cancer and they didn't know how to behave toward me. They tried to be kind, but I had the feeling they were afraid it was contagious. They kept their distance and called on the phone to see how I was doing. This really hurt.

Last Sunday I headed for the Laundromat. You see the same people there, say "good morning," and make small talk. I was trying not to look depressed but my spirits were really low. As I was taking my laundry out of the car I looked up and saw a man, one of the regulars, leaving with his bundle. He smiled and said, "Good morning. How are you today?" I lost control of myself and blurted out, "This is the worst day of my life! I have more cancer!" Then I began to cry.

He put his arms around me and just let me sob. Then he said, "I understand. My wife has been through it." After a few minutes I felt better, thanked him for his understanding and proceeded with my laundry.

About 15 minutes went by and in came the man and his wife. She walked over to me and, without saying a word, hugged me and said, "Feel free to talk to me. Once I was where you are now. I know what you are going through."

Ann, I can't tell you how much that meant to me. Here was this total stranger, taking her time to give me emotional support and courage to face the future at a time when I was ready to give up.

I hope God gives me the chance to do for someone else what that wonderful woman did for me. Meanwhile, Ann, please let your readers know that even though there are a lot of hard-hearted people in this world, there are some incredibly generous and loving ones, too.

-- A Witness in Rockford, IL.

Dear Witness:

What a beautiful testimony! I know how warm-hearted and compassionate people can be. I see it in my mail every day. Man's inhumanity to man gets more headlines, but there is plenty of love in the world. Thanks for reminding us. I'll remember you in my prayers, dear.

Now we are not always perfect in our dealings with people. But every one of us needs a little compassion.

And you guys, you may think your too macho, but you can be compassionate. So, in working on our relationships we should have a unity in sympathy and we should be compassionate. I said once before and I will say it again, our male tenderness, sympathy, compassion, and love is not our "feminine" side, it is most definitely masculine.