Empathy is stepping inside someone else’s shoes in order to gain an understanding of what that person is seeing. Empathy allows us to discover the world through that person’s eyes. As though looking through a new lens, empathy widens our perspective — widens, because we are no longer working with just our opinions and justifications but incorporating true and meaningful feelings and insights. Empathy is a process of connecting one person to another.
This connecting challenges our conventional boundaries. Our rules are reinvented from law through grace, which turns our life up-side-down. Our weaknesses are no longer pitiful but good and welcomed. Seeing through another lens provides for a different perspective of the same thing, which widens our understanding. We open up instead of close down.
Stepping into the shoes of another is not a technique but an opportunity to discreetly probe another’s heart and mind. These new understandings might uncover hidden truths that may have been hidden from us or, sometimes, because of us. Now in plain view, these true understandings reflect back to us as if through a mirror.
When we employ empathy, our discovery can even bring us closer to the heart of Christ. This is because the Lord often permits us to step into His shoes to see someone the way He sees him, causing everyone to be extraordinary.
Empathy challenges our conventional boundaries and literally reinvents the rules from law through grace. Empathy turns us up-side-down so that our weakness is no longer pitiful but good and welcomed. Empathy can wipe a slate clean. Empathy cancels old assumptions to make room for new truths. Empathy always reveals. Empathy invariably makes way for the Lord.
Click here for a video that will inspire you to empathize with those around you this weekend.
John Fischer The Catch 
I remember the first time I heard the word empathy and or empathize. The last word was part of dialogue in a play I was in back in February of 1981 at Murray State University. It is a great word and on the journey to follow Christ its always good to read great words that are open and honest. Take care, God Bless, and have a great weekend.
try again
again
Seeing through an open lens..reminds me of a song..Wide Angle.
Since Bobby died, I have received sympathy and empathy…sometimes at the same time. I prefer empathy. Sympathy gushes with well-meaning, but often irritates me. Empathy is quiet, it listens, and speaks sparingly in measured tones. Sympathy feels sorry for me, making me a victim. (I don’t need help with that) Empathy helps me to think and seek solid ground. It doesn’t feel for me, it feels with me.
Dear Sandie I loved read your brilliant comments!
Mark, it blesses me to know I touched your heart and spirit.
I first heard the word empathy back when after waking up from a 3-months coma a bad car accident had put me in and killed the woman who was a passenger in my car. Praise God & thankfully a new believer in Christ! (Take that Satan – you tried to destroy me, but I serve the most high God and she’s in God’s Paradise!) Anyway, a new and pretty cool recreation therapist a graduate from a local College wrote it down on a chalk board with a dash Empathy – to define it and wrote Understanding. I liked that, yet now after reading Today’s Catch would like to add:
Empathy – to try to Understand – Without Judgement… B/C man oh man it seems to me isn’t there enough judgement going on in the Church & in the World!
PS Very cool video Pastor John!
Mark, that is quite a revelation in a very few words. I can only imagine what that must have done to your thoughts. As you say, you are here today because you love the Lord Jesus and he gives you the strength you need to make it through life and defeat the one who kills, and destroys. Mark, i think you have overcome what ever Satan has thrown at you, because as Christ has overcome the world so you as his follower have overcome the world. Wow!
I also agree with you that we as christians and unbelievers as well are way too judgmental. It has taken me a lifetime to learn the I shouldn’t criticize and accuse but walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. Empathy also means to listen to the one you are focused on, because once you know what happened it often changes your whole perception of what is really going on. Judgmentalism hurts others, empathy is a way to love others.
Thanks for sharing Mark that took a lot of courage. It also shows me that you realize that this is a safe environment to do that.
Big TY brother Perter I certainly appreciate your kind words – yet in full confession I have to admit a few hours after posting I love (sometimes) chatting on Instant Messaging on Facebook! It’s a great way to have a lot of access to a lot of people (believers & non-believers) from all over America & the World and 99.9% of them understand me when I tell them it’s time for me to go that I NEED to stop chatting (b/c I am only one handed from the stroke) so I need to stop a few hours break to go fix my dinner and can’t do both. So please pretty plz try to understand and let me stop and stop chatting with me, please…. (To me and 99.9% of the people I chat with it’s a simply request… Especially after using the word pleases 3times)
And it again happened in a new younger female friend after i “said” that she continues to ask me questions, so & copied & pasted my comments to her again, yet she continues – So the 3rd time I asked her did she get the chance to read my comments above? And said yes than went on to ask me other questions!
So getting a bit peeved I decided I need to delete & block her and as I’m doing that I see she said I’m sorry, yet big dummy & a bit too self righteous me, I hit the button to finish – I think I’ll unblock her and offer her an apology…
PS Also, let me please add I learned a little trade secret from my ex stunningly gorgeous home health aide Traycee that once worked as topless dancer and she I thought made an excellent point in spotting a fake profile by only having one or two profile pictures and MOST younger woman take a dozen pictures of themselves just walking or driving around the block, lol – And this woman that would listen or bother reading my comments only had one pic and I’ve also learned A LOT of these fake Facebook profiles don’t even bother reading others post…yet didn’t our Lord say something about forgiving 7X7,000 times..
To Mark, Peter, and Sandy thanks so much for your great comments with such wisdom and heart. Makes one feel so much better.