Mark Twain observed, “Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a child’s loss of a doll and a king’s loss of a crown are events of the same size.”

 

It seems to me that we often minimize our cares. Sadly, we sometimes think that our problems are too little to talk about or to pray about. We think that others will think that we are making a big deal out of nothing. However, the Bible instructs us to cast “all” of our “care” upon Christ because “he careth” for us (1 Peter 5:7). Please note that it does not say that we are to cast just our big cares upon Him. We are to cast all of our cares, big and small, upon Him. If it concerns us, it matters to Him. After all, we are His bride (Ephesians 5:22–33). A loving husband cares about what troubles his wife. It matters because she matters.

 

In addition to minimizing our own cares, we sometimes minimize one another’s cares. Often things that seem big to one person seem small to another. For example, the loss of a pet can be a huge loss for one person, but a minimal loss for another. After all, one might reason, a pet isn’t a person. While this is true, people can get awfully attached to their pets. As many of us know, pets provide faithful companionship and unconditional love. Compassion requires us to be of one mind with another (1 Peter 3:8). We must see the cares of others as they do and treat them as we would want to be treated (Matthew 7:12). We must guard against seeing the cares of others as insignificant. The cares of others are not insignificant. Their cares are significant because they are significant. It is not our duty to judge whether another’s burden is big or small, but rather to help them to bear it (Galatians 6:2).

 

I hope that the considerations set forth in this article will help all of us to be more compassionate. The closer we get to the Lord and one another, the harder it will be for the devil to get into our lives.   —Wade Webster, Southaven, Mississippi