By Ann Weaver.
Empathy:
The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
(New Oxford American Dictionary)
For a long time, I assumed that empathy was really just the same thing as sympathy. They sound the same, they look the same, and technically mean the same thing, right?
When I looked at this description, however, I realized that my assumption was incorrect. Sympathy is described as “feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune.” On the other hand, empathy is having the ability to share these feelings with the other person. It says in the same thesaurus that the origin of the word in Greek is “Empatheia,” which means “in feeling”, or feeling for others.
Romans 12:15 speaks of this concept. Though it does not state the word “empathy”, it says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” That is definitely showing the trait of empathy!
Interestingly enough, when I looked up the word “empathy” in the New Oxford American Thesaurus, it had no synonyms to show. I checked another thesaurus. Still nothing. The word does not even exist in either one. Why? I think it’s because there is no other way to express this word, for in the end it’s several things all put together. And what are those things?
1: Kindness
Being empathetic means being kind. Kindness is consideration, and if you are showing empathy you are also being considerate of the other person’s feelings. In Romans 4:32 we are told to “Be kind to one another…”. Empathy is showing kindness towards others by caring for and understanding their feelings.
2: Compassion
This word may be the only one that could possibly be likened to empathy, as compassion is pity and concern for others’ misfortunes. Though compassion does not involve sharing or understanding the other’s difficulties, it’s still something we often think of when empathy is mentioned.
3: Understanding
Not only understanding someone’s feelings logically, empathy also understands them inwardly, in one’s heart. Along with the other two traits listed above, understanding from the heart is key to learning this very important trait.
One big part of empathy is looking out for others, so that you can show it. Don’t brush off their feelings or ignore them, and be vigilant in looking out for others’ hardships. Empathy means sharing the other person’s feelings, but we have to discover those feelings before we can share them.
And remember: some people may feel that it’s pushy for you to always ask them about their problem or try to sympathize with them a lot. Some are more private than others. Depending on the person, it can sometimes make it more difficult to be empathetic towards them, if you don’t know how they’re feeling in the first place. As long as you are sure not to be pushy and watch for signs of the other person’s annoyance or discomfiture, though, this should hopefully not be a problem.
Let’s make it our aim this month to improve our empathy, striving to understand and share other’s feelings, remembering how Paul tells us in Galatians 6:2 to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
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