The next day he (the Samaritan) took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

Luke 10:35

Both the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the world understand that compassion comes with a cost. But only one of the kingdoms say its worth it.

Caring for other people will come at some personal expense to the one doing it. Only one kingdom values people over wealth.

Seeing other people’s needs as one’s own responsibility means taking on additional burdens, and only one kingdom expects its citizens to lay down their lives for the sake of another.

Only one kingdom has a ruler who serves others rather than demanding that they be served.

Only one kingdom declares that the most identifying characteristic of its citizenry is love for others.

Both the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world know that compassion has a cost. The difference is whether they decide that the cost is worth it.

Both the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world understand that compassion has a cost.

The kingdom of the world knows compassion costs. The costs show up as time, energy, resources, and reputation. We might lose money, comfort, or even control when we stop to care.
The world weighs the cost and often concludes: It’s too high.

But the Kingdom of God runs on a different kind of accounting.

In God’s Kingdom, compassion isn’t optional. It is how people are instructed to live.

And if there is confusion as to what this looks like, we have the king of this kingdom to show us the way.

Jesus didn’t just feel compassion; He paid its price. He touched lepers (Mark 1:40–42), ate with sinners (Luke 5:29–32), wept over cities (Luke 19:41–42), healed on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1–6), and gave His life for those who would never repay Him (Romans 5:6–8).

He knew that compassion would cost Him everything and He chose to love others anyway.

Those who choose to live as citizens in the Kingdom of God don’t deny the cost of loving our neighbors. We acknowledge it and declare It’s worth it.

Because in God’s Kingdom things are different.

What looks like loss is gain (Matthew 16:25).
What feels like weakness is strength (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).
And every obedient act of sacrificial compassion is participation in the kind of world God is making new (Revelation 21:5).

The worldly kingdom counts cost and protects itself.
The Kingdom of God counts cost and reaches for its checkbook.

The Good Samaritan in Luke 10 doesn’t just stop to help the injured man. Not only does he deliver him to a place where healing can happen, but he pays for services with the equivalent of a blank check.

Compassion will always cost you something. Citizens of God’s kingdom are instructed to pay the cost. And those who do know the cost of compassion is worth it. For whoever lays down their life actually finds new life in King Jesus.

Scriptures

• John 13:34–35 — “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.”
• 1 John 3:16–18 — “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters… let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
• Romans 12:9–10 — “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love.”
• Galatians 5:13–14 — “Serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
• Philippians 2:3–8 — “In humility value others above yourselves… have the same mindset as Christ Jesus… he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
• 2 Corinthians 8:9 — “Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
• Luke 9:23–24 — “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

• James 1:27 — “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.”
• Proverbs 19:17 — “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.”
• Isaiah 58:6–10 — “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice… to share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter?”
• Micah 6:8 — “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
• Matthew 9:35–36 — “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

• Mark 10:45 — “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
• John 15:12–13 — “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
• Hebrews 13:16 — “Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
• Ephesians 5:1–2 — “Follow God’s example… and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.”

• Matthew 16:25 — “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”
• Galatians 6:9–10 — “Let us not become weary in doing good… as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people.”
• Proverbs 11:25 — “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”
• Hebrews 6:10 — “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people.”

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