Compassion has surely never been more needed in this broken, angry world of war, famine, disease, poverty and fear. The Bible shows us again and again the good news of God’s compassion for us, perhaps most vividly demonstrated in the parable of the Prodigal Son, referred to at the end, below. God’s compassion for us can act as an example to how we should view others.

Here, then, are seven Bible verses on compassion for these troubled times.

1. ‘And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness’ (Exodus 34:6).

2. ‘Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you’ (Deuteronomy 30:3).

3. ‘But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence’ (2 Kings 13:23).

4. ‘When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd’ (Matthew 9:36).

5. ‘When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick’ (Matthew 14:14).

6. ‘As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy’ (James 5:11).

7. ‘So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him’ (Luke 15:20).

“We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.”― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 

Here are seven inspirational quotes on compassion for these troubled times.

“We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”

John Bunyan 

“Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.”

Albert Schweitzer 

“True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. 

“We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.”

Albert Schweitzer 

“Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else’s skin. It’s the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too. ”

Frederick Buechner 

“If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”

Francis of Assisi 

“Compassion is the chief law of human existence.”

Fyodor Dostoevsky 

“Do you not know that God entrusted you with that money (all above what buys necessities for your families) to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and, indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind? How can you, how dare you, defraud the Lord, by applying it to any other purpose?”

John Wesley 

“Nothing that we despise in other men is inherently absent from ourselves. We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or don’t do, and more in light of what they suffer.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer