Do You Sympathize Or Empathize

Empathy verses Sympathy Romans 12:1-21 "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men". (Romans 12:14-18) Empathy what is empathy, well, it is understanding and sharing in the experiences and emotions of someone else. Empathy is the glue that holds a community or a group of people together. Empathy helps build trust, lowers the possibility of conflict and helps produce a good social structure to function under. As I looked a little deeper into this word, I found the ybelieve it can be broken down into three areas. 1.Empathy can be the material of thinking that will take someones feeling, idenrify and understand them in such a way that it allows one to take their point of view into consideration, step into their shoes and walk for a while without taking on the burden they are carrying 2. Then there is an empathy that does take on the emotions and feelings of the other person and literally feel the physical and emotional sensations of that person and respond accordingly to those feelungs. This type of empathy literally "feels what others feel"—such as feeling a pang of anxiety when a friend is stressed or sharing a burst of joy when a friend is successful at what they are trying to accomplish. 3.Then there is an empathy that shows and has compassion, it goes beyond feeling or understanding of someone's trouble, this empathy is driven by the emotional state of the other person. And because of it, moves into action motivates action, where you actually want to help the other person to get better from a sickness or to succeed at a hob they are failing at. Empathy vs. Sympathy Sympathy is pretty much a surface feeling where you feel pity oe\r sorrow for someone, but thats as far as it goes. We all feel sympathy often in our lives. Most of the time with sympathy, we do not fully grasp or understand what they are going through. Empathy on the other hand goes much deeper actually moving the person to being more engaged in the situation. Where they actually share in the emotions and thoughts of the person they are sympathizing with. Sympathy os kind of automatic, but empathy can be cultivated, and strengthened, depending on where the person is in ther own personal lives. Empathy is what I would call flexible rather than fixed in a persons being. Which makes it so that it can developed and strengthened over time again depending on there the one with the empathy is at in theor own lives. My friends if you sense the need to be more empathetic towards those who are hurting, try cultivating your empathy by be more of an active Listener, and while listening, fully focus on the words the other person is saying, and not trying to formulate your response to them in your mind at the same time. I must confess, this is something I must work on, often as someone is speaking to me, my mind starts working on what Im going to say next and so often what another person is saying goes out the window of my mind and its gone. That is not empathy. Another cultivation tactic is to be mindful of what they have said and ask questions thay are open ended about they have said and find out how someone is feeling or thinking, if you don't you are in danger of making assumptions, which can make you look pretty stupid. Believe me I have been there. After ward you kick yourself for days, trying to deal with your stupoidity, until you ask God to forgive you and one must also ask the other person to forgive you for you stupidity. Then you can be set free of that mistake. I have had to be pro-active in challenging my biases and prejudices about people that have prevented me from connecting with those people who have different beliefs and practices than I do. And especially those who are from different cultures and backgrounds than me So therefore empathy is feeling what others feel, deep in their hearts, and that feeling resonates with yours and you conect. Lets take a look at what the bible says about these things. It says we are to share in people's joys and sadness, to act and show them we care. Let's look at (Romans 12:15) it tells us we should be sharing in both the joy and sorrows of our fellow men and especially those who are closest to us. (Galatians 6:2) says its very important that we help others carry their burdens. Only one way to really do that, and that is having empathy towards them, understanding and knowing some what how they are feeling. I love themm but I'm not very sympathetic when their ways of thinking or living causes them trouble or grief. The bible says we need to have sympathy and love for them. (1 Peter 3:8) Simply says we should be sympathetic, loving, and compassionate, in all that we do and say, we are to love all, encluding our enemy. At times I often have a hard time have sympathy for those I disagree with. But in obedience to the word of God, that needs to change. (Colossians 3:12) we should and need to cultivate compassion, kindness, and humility, we are not better than anyone else, we are who we are because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. It is all about Him. (Hebrews 4:15) It is so comforting to know that Jesus understands and sympathizes with me and you and He knows our weaknesses and know how to strengthen us. If we will just stop and study the word of God, we will learn to cultivate our sympathy/empathy and will learn how to share someone's feelings and truly understanding what it means to truely hurt for someone else. I remember asking God to show me what it feeling like to feel someone elses pain. Wow, untless you truelt=y want to feel someone elses pain do not ask God to show you, He may k=just answer that prayer. Take these scriptures to heart and be encouraged to be kind, take the time to step into the shoes of someone you care about. (Romans 12:15) is a good one, as you learn to share in someone joys and in their sorrows as you wear their shoes for a period. (Galatians 6:2)You will experience bearing someone elses burdens. (1 Peter 3:8) Calls for us to have compassion and (Hebrews 4:15) tells us Christ understands our weaknesses. Friends, its good to have sympathy, but empathy is better as it envolves getting involved and walking in someone elses shoes. Father God, I believe I have sympo=thy, but Lord give me empathy, I so often do not feel what others are feeling. Lord, I should ask more of the right questions so that I can empathize with someone as to what they are feeling and or going through. Like the lady I talked to at the trade fair, wept with me, and empathized with me s to what I had gone through. But maybe, what I shared also brought up someething from her past that caused those tears and I may have missed that. Lord, if I did, please forgive me, and help me n the future to learn to cultivate my empathy. It is in your name I pray AMEN.