“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion….” (Colossians 3:12).
There are two Greek words that can be translated “compassion” and Paul used them both in our one word, “compassion.” The KJV “translates them a “bowels of mercies.” One of them refers to the intense inner feeling that moves us. It’s as if something is tearing at us on the inside. That word is used of Jesus in the Gospels. It was the feeling He had when He faced human need and that feeling resulted in His miraculous intervention. He also used it in the parable of the Good Samaritan who had compassion on the beaten traveler. It describes the tender feelings that are stirred deep within us when we see human suffering. Our term “gut-wrenching” would be a fair equivalent of this kind of compassion.
To that word Paul adds another Greek word for “compassion.” It refers to the actions that result from our inner feelings. It isn’t walking by someone who is suffering and saying, “What a pity”; it is doing something to help him. Both words are used to render the one word in English, “compassion.”
Paul is saying that when we get up in the morning and put on our clothes make certain that we put on compassion. We are to be wearing compassion when we get to the breakfast table. We should have it on when we get to our job or to our school. It should be as obvious to others as the clothes we wear physically. One of the ways people will recognize our relationship with Jesus is by the compassion we demonstrate. It is a recognizable part of who God is and it is to be a recognizable part of our new nature.
