Empathy as said in the bible

1. Empathy – 28th
September2016
“Rejoice withthose who rejoice; mournwith those who mourn” (Romans12:15).
The Scripturesrefertothe qualityof empathy,whichwe see demonstratedinseveral biblical narratives.
Empathyis the capacityto feel another person’sfeelings,thoughts,orattitudesvicariously.The apostle
PetercounseledChristianstohave “compassionforone another;love asbrothers,be tenderhearted,be
courteous”. We can learnfrom 1 Peter 3:8, “ Finally,all ofyou,be like-minded,besympathetic,love
one another, be compassionateandhumble”. The apostle Paul alsoencouragedempathywhenhe
exhortedfellow Christians:“Rejoicewiththosewho rejoice; mourn withthose who mourn” (Romans
12:15).
Empathyis relatedtosympathybutisnarrowerinfocus andis generallyconsideredmore deeply
personal. Compassion,sympathy,andempathyall have todowithhavingpassion(feeling)foranother
personbecause of hisor hersuffering.True empathyisthe feelingof actuallyparticipatinginthe
sufferingof another.
We can learnfroma questionposedbythe apostle Johnasked, “Ifanyonehasmaterial possessionsand
sees a brother or sister inneed buthas no pityon them, how can the love of Godbe in that person?”.
Pityinthisverse isrelatedtoempathy, whichisthe capacityto feel anotherperson’sfeelings,but both
require action.AsChristianswe are commandedtolove ourneighborandtohave intense love forfellow
believers.We canlearnof this importance of Love througha teachingwhenJesus taughtwhatHe stated
as the second greatestcommandment: Jesusreplied:“‘Lovethe Lord your Godwith all your heart and
with all your soul and withall your mind.’38
Thisisthe first andgreatest commandment. 39
Andthe
second islike it: ‘Love your neighboras yourself.’ (Matthew22:37-39).
We can alsolearnwhenthe apostle Petersays: “Aboveall,loveeach other deeply, because lovecovers
over a multitudeof sins”(1Peter 4:8). Thoughwe are required tolove one anotherasan important
priority,we oftenmissopportunitiestorelieveothers’pain bothphysically aswellasmentally.Thisis
because all importantrequirementof LOVEisnot inthe hearts of such people. Thatcouldbe because
we are unaware of others’needs;orperhapswe are not practicingempathy.Empathyisthe keythat
can unlockthe door to our kindnessandcompassion.
There are several examplesof empathyinactioninthe Bible.Jesuswasalwayssensitivetothe plightof
others.Matthew 9 tellsushowJesus hadcompassion,whenhe saw the crowds,onthem, because they
were harassedandhelpless,likesheepwithoutashepherd.“Whenhesawthe crowds, he had
compassiononthem, because they were harassedandhelpless,like sheep withouta shepherd”.
(Matthew 9:36). Onanotheroccasion,Jesusobservedawidow abouttoburyher onlyson.Sensingher
painJesus’“heartoverflowedwithcompassion”,He approachedthe funeral processionandresurrected
the youngman as we learnfrom Luke 7:11–16. “Whenthe Lord saw her, hisheart went out to her and
he said,“Don’t cry.”14
Thenhe went up and touchedthe bier they were carryinghim on,and the
bearers stood still.He said, “Youngman,I say to you, get up!” 15
The dead mansat up and beganto
talk, andJesus gave himback to his mother”. As Christianswe canknow that havinglivedahumanlife,

2. our Lord can and doesempathize withall of ourweaknesses.We canlearnfrom Hebrews 4:15, “For we
do not have a highpriest whois unableto empathize withour weaknesses, but we have one who has
been tempted in every way,just as we are—yet he didnot sin”.
Whenwe see another’s painorsuffering,insteadof simply ‘lookingthe otherway’,ourheartsshould
have the capacity to feel thatperson’spain.There maybe timesthatyoumaybe able tophysically
help…suchas withfinances.Butwhensuchisnot readilyavailable, asChristiansthe leastone coulddo
isa showof concern throughprayerseekingGodpresence forthatperson. Whenwe have deepconcern
throughlove foranother, we will develop adegree of ‘anxiety’forthe overallbettermentforthat
person.Throughour empathyforthatpersonand whenwe pray for that person, these prayerswillbe
heardby God. We can learnfrom 1 Peter 5:7, “Castall your anxiety on himbecause he cares foryou.
The word compassion describesthe deepmercyof God.God isthe verybestat empathy:We can learn
from Psalm103:14, “…forhe knows howwe are formed, he remembers that we are dust…”. He
personallyfeelsthe painof Hispeople aswe can readfrom Psalm56:8: “Recordmy misery; list my
tears on your scroll—arethey not inyour record?”. How comfortingitisto know that God records all
our tearsand all our struggles!AsChristianswe mustalwaysrememberthatGod’sinvitationtocastall
our cares uponHim,because he caresfor you!.