Compassion Can’t Be Outsourced

Compassion Grows Where You’re Willing to Go

For too long in my life I considered that the best way to help others was to support them monetarily as best as possible. Reflecting back, while the support was helpful it often created a buffer between the actual need and the emotions which limited my growth in one specific area – compassion. 

Let’s just say if compassion were a sport, I’d still be waiting to be picked for the team. However, it’s not all bad news. If I look at what activities created the most growth in the area of compassion in my life they have all been directly tied to opportunities of service. 

Take for instance the first Hurricane Relief trip we organized in October last year. Going into it I treated much of the planning and scheduling as a construction project and it wasn’t until I was standing shoulder to shoulder with those that had their lives completely flipped upside down that I began to see the humanity side of what we were doing. 

I remember our leader telling a story where he encouraged us to “put the paintbrush down” whenever those we were helping wanted to talk. While for our trip that paintbrush was essentially a chainsaw, it was when the equipment was silent and the conversations began to flow where true compassion began to take root. 

Because here’s the truth—compassion isn’t built from a distance. It grows in the trenches, in the conversations, in the moments where you stop focusing on the task and start seeing the person.

So if you’re wired like me and compassion doesn’t come naturally, don’t wait for it to develop on its own. Put yourself in situations where you have no choice but to engage. Serve, listen, and be present. Because at the end of the day, compassion can’t be outsourced—it has to be lived.

Side note – please pray for our team as we return to the frontline of Hurricane Helene in the coming week. Pray for safety, for hearts to see the love of Christ in the work we are blessed to do and for those that don’t know Him to confess Jesus as Lord. God bless. 

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