#Compassion is the Only #Christian #Commandment

As a Christian I am commanded to view every other word and rule in scripture through the lens of compassion using the most compassionate interpretation possible. This means that every person I meet must be viewed with and treated with compassion and every action I take must be compassionate. Selfishness is the root of all evil and only compassion replaces and defeats it. Of course, I’m human and I fail, then I try again. That’s how we grow.

Christ replaced all other rules and commandments with one that may be paraphrased as, "Love thy neighbor, thy enemy, and thy god as thyself."

This means that we are to be compassionate, to help others and ourselves through pain and struggle as best we can, to take care of ourselves and others. This doesn't mean actually feeling the pain of others as in empathy, but a form of rational care. Compassion is not altruism or selflessness, though it can be in the extreme cases. The giver is built up and strengthened by the act of doing the same for the one helped. It is mutually beneficial and a virtuous circle. It lifts all boats involved, uniting them in hope and common purpose. It creates and holds together family and society and keeps the selfish individual from tearing everything down with them.

Christ's true act of sacrifice wasn't the cross. It was when he reluctantly took the "cup" in Gethsemane that contained the pain of everyone who ever was or will be. He felt all our pain and has universal compassion for us. That is why he is fit to judge and forgive. The cross was just where the sacrifice was completed. Gethsemane was what made him our god.