Empathy

“Jesus wept” – John 11:35

Empathy (n.) – The ability to experience the thoughts or feelings of someone else. Essentially, looking at someone else’s circumstances and wondering, “what if that were me?”

Meet Austin Perine, who, at the tender age of 4, teaches us a powerful lesson about empathy.

Once, Austin and his father were watching a show about pandas. A mother panda had abandoned her baby. Austin’s father explained that the cub was now homeless. Austin, intrigued, asked, “What’s homeless?” His father responded, “It’s when someone doesn’t have a home, and they don’t have a mom or dad, and sometimes they don’t have food.” Then, Austin asked, “Are people homeless?” At this moment, everything changed.

Austin decided to use all his allowance and gift money to buy chicken sandwiches to hand out to homeless people. Every week, he embarks on what he calls his “very favorite thing,” feeding the homeless. This task is, according to him, the highlight of his life. He tells everyone he meets, “Don’t forget to show love.” When asked why he does this, Austin simply responds, “It’s just the right thing to do.” He saw people in need and felt their struggles as if they were his own.

EMPATHY

“Jesus wept” – The shortest verse in the Bible, yet it carries so much meaning.

The verse describes a moment when Jesus’ friend Lazarus had died. The family was grieving and weeping. Upon seeing this, Jesus was deeply moved and troubled. He saw his friends grieving and felt their pain, prompting Him to weep.

NEWSFLASH: Jesus knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He knew He was about to change everything, yet He wept out of empathy.

EMPATHY

These days, empathy often seems in short supply. We often blame people for their misfortunes or insist that they got what they deserved. But empathy isn’t about agreeing with someone’s actions, it’s about feeling their feelings. Empathy asks the question, “What if it were me?”

Today, take a moment to stop and ask for God’s help in understanding and sharing the feelings of others.