Ears Of Empathy
‘Eyes Of Empathy’ – by Jeff Cinquemani
Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well, and the man who sat paralyzed by a superstitious pool—each time Jesus looks into their questions and poses another question that digs deep into the real issue. As a way of showing us to look beyond the surface, Jesus teaches us to see a new perspective, perhaps to find a better understanding. He asks us to empathize, and there is no better example of Jesus' empathy than in Matthew 19. Here he creates a new view of what it might look like if his disciples looked at life from a different set of eyes—eyes of empathy.
Our #WholeLifeTakeAways for this week:
- When you think about someone who you've been able to confide in or someone with whom you've felt safe, what was it about them that made you feel that way?
- If you think of empathy as having the ability to observe someone and put yourself in their shoes while attempting to seek understanding, what would you say are hindrances to making that a value in your own life?
- Oftentimes, empathy is confused with tolerance, leniency, and maybe excusing wrongdoing. How was Jesus able to carry out empathy and the behaviors that followed afterward, knowing that the religious leaders would certainly call him into question?
- Jesus seems to express empathy many more times than simply calling out the selfishness of those who were in the wrong and acting out injustice. Some might say this is non-confrontational, while others might say it's seeing the deeper faults on both sides. How do we put Jesus in our own “box” to excuse our lack of empathy?
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