To Pity or not to pity?

"Danger, Will Robinson."  My mind remembers a TV show from my childhood this morning when I read Deuteronomy 7:12-16.  A family was lost in space and the family robot was their protector.  When inquisitive Will wondered from the family camp, the robot followed and every week issued the warning of "Danger."

God tells the Israelites not to pity the peoples God has delivered to them to drive from the Promised Land.   He even adds not to pity them so much as to serve their gods.  Why?  Because they will be a snare, a snare that leads them away from God.

Even though pity and compassion are often used interchangeably.  Today I have pondered the dangerous side of pity.  Today I am probably doing a dangerous thing when I propose that there may be a side of pity that can be dangerous.  I pray I will not be misunderstood.  Yet today I have had a bit of an epiphany.

Pity can be an emotional response to another's tragedy. Yet pity can have its origin in selfishness rather than selflessness.  Pity can be a show of regret and compassion but too often it's really a show of relief, "Thank you, that is not me!"

Pity sometimes focuses on oneself rather than meeting the needs or alleviating a situation of another.  Pity turns our hearts away from God and what He has given.  Pity starts the comparison snare. The trap that begins with relief by comparing situations with another who is less fortunate but then progresses to questions like, "What about me?"  "How come I can't?"  Such comparisons are a snare to lead us away from God and center our lives on self.

Compassion has a more common feel to it.  It makes me think of coming alongside someone and relating to their circumstance based on a common experience. Compassion implies some action on my part to ease another's pain.  It's sharing and relating, not comparing.

I have a problem sometimes receiving another's care for me.  When inquiring as to my state has the inflection of pity, my pride flares up.  When I can hear compassion in another's question, my heart is encouraged.

So, sometimes, could pity be the beginning of lust-- lust that leads to sin, the sin of focusing on self, not God?  It's the first domino that leads us into a life led by satisfying self rather than God.

Pity and comparing our lives to others reminds us of our troubles, challenges and circumstances.  In this case pity shifts our focus away from what God has and will give to what others have and we don't.

There is definitely an "I" in pity.  I know there is an "i" in compassion but it is farther into the word!  Today I am reminded to have my compass set on God before I.  God showed compassion on us when He sent Jesus to be our deliverer.  He came alongside of us so we would know that He really does know how we feel.

Today I am warned of the dangerous side of pIty!   When I feel pity, I'm going to evaluate.  If it comes my relief and has a comparison "feel", I'm going to count my blessings, not compare them. I'm going to turn pity into compassion and  share with those that I am able to give comfort.  I am going to focus on God and not fall into the pIty-self snare.