In the book of Luke, there's a story of the Good Samaritan on the Jerico Road who showed compassion to, and befriended a wounded man who by cultural difference and prejudice hated him and would have avoided him but hospitality broke down the walls.

In Luke 10:27-37:

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jerico, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance, there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

The compassion of Jesus mixed with a good dose of hospitality will break down your barriers too!

A favorite scripture of mine is, Psalms 86:15:

But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, plenteous in mercy and truth.

God is gracious, longsuffering, plenteous in mercy and truth, and he is full of compassion for YOU! The Hebrew translation of compassion is: "disposed to show favors!". Sympathy identifies with the problem but compassion acts against the problem. What we need is not sympathy. We need compassion!

Don't ever forget that ministry and a lack of compassion do not mix! We live in a world of hurting people. People who have hurts themselves lash out and hurt other people. If you are living with hurts, it is essential to your own good as well as to the ministry the Lord yearns to pour forth through you that you trust God to help you to get your thoughts off of yourself and set your focus on Jesus. If you will do this, before you know it, he will begin to direct your thoughts to others and their needs. You see, as long as we are self-centered, self-focused, and self-indulgent, -- we are dead while we live! It is only when we learn to be moved with compassion, as was Jesus, and to allow our hearts to be broken by the things that breaks God's heart that we are truly effective as Christians.

I once heard a minister say that when you learn about compassion, you'll find out real quickly that you're not going to get your way anymore. God wants us to learn to be sensitive to the needs of others. Practicing true-blue, real, genuine compassion means getting out of the "I", "me", "my", and "mine", mindset and allowing love, hope, mercy, and understanding to rule your thought-life. When you get to this place, you are in the "ready, get set, GO!!!" position and God will use you beyond your highest expectations.