As we learned last week, we need to think of it as 'dressing ourselves' in preparation for serving Him and His goals through the day. While holiness and the love of God are gifts of His grace, the character and temperament of Jesus are worked out through obedient, repentance, and the disciplines of the Christian life which allows the Spirit to flow into our hearts. Sympathy is the cheap cousin of compassion. We can feel sympathy to the point of shedding tears and then wipe away the tears, walk away, and forget the need of that person. Don't confuse sympathy with compassion.
Compassion compels service and action.
The best men, I thought, stood aloof and kept their emotions in check. My father, who is a Pastor, is a man of tremendous compassion. I watched him allow his feelings to be deeply touched. As he conducted funerals I saw him make the sorrow of the family his own. When he walked into a hospital room, I saw him let the apprehension of the sick person touch his own soul.