December 2015

Prayerfully study this material and seek to know what to share. How will understanding the life and mission of the Savior increase your faith in Him and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching? For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.

This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring divine attributes of the Savior.

 The Attributes of Jesus Christ: Compassionate and Kind
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 “In the scriptures, compassion means literally ‘to suffer with.’ It also means to show sympathy, pity, and mercy for another.”1

“Jesus provided us many examples of compassionate concern,” said President Thomas S. Monson. “The crippled man at the pool of Bethesda; the woman taken in adultery; the woman at Jacob’s well; the daughter of Jairus; Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha—each represented a casualty on the Jericho road. Each needed help.

“To the cripple at Bethesda, Jesus said, ‘Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.’ To the sinful woman came the counsel, ‘Go, and sin no more.’ To help her who came to draw water, He provided a well of water ‘springing up into everlasting life.’ To the dead daughter of Jairus came the command, ‘Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.’ To the entombed Lazarus, ‘Come forth.’

“The Savior has always shown unlimited capacity for compassion. … Let us open the door of our hearts, that He—the living example of true compassion—may enter.”2
 

Additional Scriptures

Psalm 145:8; Zechariah 7:9; 1 Peter 3:8; Mosiah 15:1, 9; 3 Nephi 17:5–7

From the Scriptures

“My husband and I knelt by the side of our 17-year-old daughter and pleaded for her life,” said Linda S. Reeves, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency. “The answer was no, but … we have come to know … that … [the Savior] feels compassion for us in our sorrows.”3
 
“One of my favorite stories from the Savior’s life is the story of Lazarus. The scriptures tell us that ‘Jesus loved Martha, … her sister [Mary], and [their brother] Lazarus.’”4 When Lazarus became ill, word was sent to Jesus, but when He arrived Lazarus had already died. Mary ran to Jesus, fell down at His feet, and wept. When Jesus saw Mary weeping, “he groaned in the spirit, and … wept” (John 11:33, 35).

“That is our charge. We must feel and see for ourselves and then help all of Heavenly Father’s children to feel and see and know that our Savior has taken upon Himself not only all our sins but also our pains and our suffering and afflictions so that He can know what we feel and how to comfort us.”5
 

Consider This

Who could be blessed by your compassion? 

Notes

1. Guide to the Scriptures, “Compassion,” scriptures.lds.org.
2. Thomas S. Monson, “The Gift of Compassion,” Ensign, Mar. 2007, 6–7, 10.
3. Linda S. Reeves, “The Lord Has Not Forgotten You,” Ensign, Nov. 2012, 120.
4. Linda S. Reeves, “The Lord Has Not Forgotten You,” 118.
5. Linda S. Reeves, “The Lord Has Not Forgotten You,” 120.

Suggested handout (download)

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Some other sites to check
Sugardoodle
The Idea Door
Inkablinka
My Happy Tribe 

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