Thursday Thoughts Newsletter is your weekly dose of 1 brief idea from me, 1 quote I’ve recently enjoyed from someone else, and 1 question for you as you go about your week.
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1 Brief Idea
You can live in state of comparison or compassion, but you can’t do both at the same time. Why? Because compassion and comparison are necessarily, mutually exclusive postures of heart. Comparison, by definition, means measuring yourself against another and gleaning some kind of satisfaction from it, something that gives you an ‘edge’ on others: of being more recognized, being more beautiful, being more connected, being more intelligent, being more successful, being more moral or more right. In fact, and quite ironically, it’s entirely possible to glean a sense of pride from being more compassionate than others, too (which is no real compassion anyways). As soon as we live in the operating grid of comparison, there is no more bandwidth left for genuine compassion for others. And this is because compassion, by definition, means a type of focus and care for others that has nothing to do with bringing anything back to the self’s ego.
So how do we start having compassion for others and stop with all the comparison with others? The Bible tell us that there is no greater cure for constant comparison, and therefore no greater capacity for compassion, than the cross of Christ. The gospel declares that our identity as humans is not fundamentally our intelligence, looks, network, wealth, or accomplishments (which we use as cheap metrics of pride)—it is our position before a holy God. When we look at the gospel, we realize that no one is better or worse, and yet, all were equally given the grace and love. Living in the operating grid of the gospel, however, severs the deep root of pride within us and prunes our tendency to constantly compare to those around us.
The seeds of compassion can only grow in the soil of humility, a soil free of the weeds and thorns of comparison which would otherwise choke out the growth of true godliness. Only by looking at the cross—which cancels comparison and gleams with compassion—can we finally find freedom from comparison and finally begin to sow seeds towards true compassion.
1 Quote
“Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.” —Francis Schaeffer
1 Question For You
What do you think is the reason you feel less than compassionate about something or someone? How can a clearer view of the cross today remove the weeds and thorns of pride that chokes out compassion for others?
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Thanks again for following along, see you again next week!
AG
