There are certain words in any language that shift in meaning over the passage of time. One important Bible word that has shifted in its meaning is the word pitiful. In I Peter 3:8, the Apostle Peter encourages followers of Jesus with these words: “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.”

In modern English, pitiful means to be an object of pity. We might say that a stray, mangy dog is a “pitiful dog” or that a homeless person in a big city lives in “pitiful conditions.”

However, in the Bible, pitiful has the opposite meaning of our contemporary usage of the word. A “pitiful man” is a man whose actions are motivated by pity. A pitiful man is one who is filled with pity, or compassion, for the poor, the helpless, the sick, and the suffering.

The Greek word used here in Peter’s epistle is εὔσπλαγχνος (eusplagchnos). This Greek word has the very same root word as the word we examined previously: σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai). This verb is often translated “moved with compassion” and describes the way that our Lord took pity upon the sick and suffering during the course of His ministry.

Peter employed the same root word and urged all followers of Jesus to be “pitiful” as the Master was pitiful. When was the last time that you were moved with compassion when you beheld someone deserving of pity?

Peter’s use of this word includes the prefix εὔ- (eu), which means “good” or “kindly.” To give a eulogy is to say a “good word” about someone. To have pity literally means to have “good bowels” toward someone. In other words, the seat of your emotions and your compassion are moved to do good toward a person in need.

Christ commended the Good Samaritan for doing good to the wounded Jew whom he found on the side of the road. In telling this story, our Lord asked a listening lawyer a question: Who was the true neighbor to the wounded man—the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan? The lawyer replied, “He that shewed mercy on him” (Luke 10:37). Then the verse closes with Christ’s exhortation to all His disciples, “Go, and do thou likewise.”

According to I Peter 3:8, all of us are to “go and do thou likewise.” Peter continued in the next few verses to define those whom we ought to have pity on and how to show pity in a Christlike way.

So how are we to show pity? “Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (I Peter 3:9–12).

Peter quoted from Psalm 34 in his exhortation to us as Christ’s followers to be like Him. Christ prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Jesus Christ had pity even upon those who crucified Him!

Earlier in this same epistle, Peter wrote regarding Jesus, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (I Peter 2:21–23).

It is one thing to pity those who are truly pitiable. We might pity a baby bird on the sidewalk, or a beggar in the streets, or a sick baby in the hospital. But do you pity the very people who revile you? When a man slanders you or your family, do you react in anger or with pity? What is your attitude toward an enemy who would destroy you? Would you have compassion toward a criminal who harmed you or a loved one? Then consider: how would Christ respond in each of those situations?

We are called as God’s children to have this kind of Christlike pity. This Biblical pity goes beyond mere human compassion, and it must be generated in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Are you following in Christ’s steps? Are you seeking to have His eyes as you view others? Are you filled with compassionate pity toward your offenders?

May God give us all the grace to be “pitiful” as Christ was. In doing so, may we truly know the blessing of the beatitude that He gave on the mount in Galilee, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7).