Wednesday in my Professional Orientation to Youth Ministry class, one of the students came in with a very heavy heart. He had spent the whole day before with one of the students in his ministry. My student was talking about the situation, and I could feel his heart for the guy in his youth group.

Much of what we teach in seminary is theory. There is a lot of information that passes between professor and student, but something that you can’t really teach in a classroom is what my student demonstrated yesterday in class. The compassion and burden for people is something that cannot be learned in the classroom. It is something that God gives you. When you hurt for those who are hurting, you are demonstrating a true characteristic of Christ.