Some Have Compassion, Making a Difference

 To my son, 

When I was growing up, one of the apostles was Joseph B. Wirthlin. President Monson described him as “truly a kind man.” Elder Wirthlin once gave a talk in general conference about kindness that was referenced recently in our sacrament meeting. He said this: “Kindness is the essence of greatness and the fundamental characteristic of the noblest men and women I have known. Kindness is a passport that opens doors and fashions friends. It softens hearts and molds relationships that can last lifetimes. Kind words not only lift our spirits in the moment they are given, but they can linger with us over the years.” He told a sad story about the effect unkind words had on someone for many years. He related this experience he had while a bishop: “One day we visited a man in his 50s who was a respected mechanic. He told me the last time he had been to church was when he was a young boy. Something had happened that day. He had been acting up in class and was being noisier than he should when his teacher became angry, pulled him out of class, and told him not to come back. He never did.” Elder Wirthlin commented, “It was remarkable to me that an unkind word spoken more than four decades earlier could have had such a profound effect. But it had. And, as a consequence, this man had never returned to church. Neither had his wife or children.” What a terrible result of some unkind words! We must strive instead to follow the example of the Savior and speak with kindness and love towards all the people we interact with.

Jesus defined what it means to follow Him with this profound statement: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). We show that we are followers of the Savior by the way that we love others. He showed us how to do that in the way that He reached out in kindness to those who were otherwise rejected or criticized by society. One such person was blind Bartimaeus. He was a beggar who sat on the road, and when Jesus passed by one day, Bartimaeus called out to Him. Those around him were embarrassed or annoyed by him, and so they “charged him that he should hold his peace.” They seemed to have no compassion for him, but Jesus did. Mark recounted, “And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way” (Mark 10:46-52). Jesus showed him great kindness and compassion, healing him when others just wanted to make him be quiet. This is just one of many examples of how the Savior reached out to others in kindness and love, and we should seek to do the same.

Elder Wirthlin urged us to be kind with these words, “When we are filled with kindness, we are not judgmental. The Savior taught, ‘Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.’ He also taught that ‘with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.’ ‘But,’ you ask, ‘what if people are rude?’ Love them. ‘If they are obnoxious?’ Love them. ‘But what if they offend? Surely I must do something then?’ Love them. ‘Wayward?’ The answer is the same. Be kind. Love them. Why? In the scriptures, Jude taught, ‘And of some have compassion, making a difference.’ Who can tell what far-reaching impact we can have if we are only kind?” No matter how others treat us, we should strive to respond in kindness and love. That can be very difficult sometimes, but the Savior will help us as we strive to love as He did.  

Love,

Dad