Empathy is often confused with sympathy but the two are different. To be sympathetic is to feel sorry for the other person. It is to look at someone else’s pain and situation and say or think, “That stink’s!” And then, after we say that to them we just move on with our life because it does not really affect us on a deep heart level. Sympathy is not bad but it just stops there. Empathy however, is to walk a mile in another person’s shoes. When someone is suffering, struggling, or facing danger, we too, to an extent in a God honoring way, are right there with them. Empathy is far more powerful than sympathy because it’s trying to understand the world through the eyes of another.
Empathy is what God showed us through Jesus Christ. And so now, we are empowered by God to do the same with others. We encourage you to listen to our second and final message on the power of empathy.
