In a world full of noise, empathy is the quiet gift that whispers, “I see you.”
It is not the same as agreement.
It is not fixing.
It is not advice.

Empathy is presence.

It is the willingness to enter someone else’s story without trying to edit it. It’s what Jesus did so often—sitting with sinners, touching the unclean, asking gentle questions, listening beneath the surface. He didn’t rush to correct their theology. He led with compassion.

And isn’t that the way love always begins?

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”
— Romans 12:15

Paul doesn’t tell us to analyze with those who mourn. Or lecture those who rejoice. He says to feel with them. To let our hearts stretch wide enough to hold their joy or sorrow. That’s holy work.

In the Gospels, Jesus consistently practiced this kind of heart-deep compassion. When he saw the widow whose only son had died, He “was moved with compassion.” When Mary wept at Lazarus’ tomb, He didn’t begin with a resurrection. He began with tears.

Empathy is what gives our faith weight. Without it, our theology can become brittle—true on paper but cold in practice. But with empathy, our beliefs take on flesh and bone. They become incarnational.

To follow Jesus is to move toward others in their pain, not away from it. To sit with someone in the ashes without rushing them toward beauty. To acknowledge wounds even when we cannot mend them.

And yes, it’s costly.

Empathy requires something of us. It costs time, energy, emotional bandwidth. It means we might feel uncomfortable. It means we don’t get to stay on the surface of life. But it also means we become a living testimony to the love of Christ—a love that didn’t remain distant but stepped into our humanity.

In this way, empathy is a form of worship.

When we choose to slow down and listen—when we honor the sacred in someone’s pain—we echo the very heartbeat of our Savior.

So today, may we resist the temptation to rush in with answers.
May we listen more than we speak.
May we enter stories gently.
And may we remember that the ministry of presence is never wasted.

Because to be like Christ is not just to preach truth, but to embody grace.

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
— Galatians 6:2

Empathy is not soft. It is strong enough to carry what others cannot carry alone.
And it is sacred enough to reflect the One who always sees us—fully, tenderly, and without turning away.