Developing a Sympathetic Heart
In a world marred by sin and evil, everybody needs someone who truly understands what they’re going through. But we can only be that someone if we have a sympathetic heart.
What does it mean to have a sympathetic or understanding heart and how do we develop such?
Bible Verse: Hebrews 4:15
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
Jesus, our High Priest, does not only know what we go through. More importantly, He feels it too. It means that He can “sympathize with our weaknesses.” The ancient Greek word translated sympathize means “to suffer along with.”
One who hears of a tragedy that happened in another city would feel a measure of grief. But it’s nothing like the pain we would feel if it were the city we grew up in. Jesus added humanity to His deity and lived among us. When you have been there, it makes all the difference.
In times when you think and feel that nobody understands your pain, always remember that Jesus does. He is kind, loving, and compassionate. If there’s someone who would know and understand exactly how we feel, it’s the Lord.
Do Not Be Insensitive
All people are indeed sinners and there is plenty of proof of that fact, but does that mean we should be insensitive. Just the fact that God is holy and people are sinners would be enough excuse to be insensitive to the plight of humanity.
God did not have to give us the opportunity for a relationship with Him. We chose to break His law. That was not His responsibility to resolve and yet, He became human and died and rose again to have a relationship with us. Jesus gave us the perfect model of how to build a relationship with other people.
Everyone needs relationships. Without relationships, people become bitter. Everyone needs someone to relate to them. Are you willing to relate to them?
Jesus did all the hardest work to save people. However, that does not mean Christians don’t need to put effort into understanding, relating, and caring about where people are coming from. Being insensitive towards others shows a lack of love.
It is easier to receive instruction or a challenge from someone that tries to relate to you. How well do we try to relate to others?
Always Act Without Prejudice
Many Christians say that the gospel is for everyone, yet many of those same people have no desire to relate to other people. Why?
In the book of Hebrews, just like Jesus is our High Priest, all Christians are also priests that can intercede for others. Yet we tend to be narrow-minded and insensitive toward those that are different from us. How is that Christ-like? The Lord was tempted just like every person and overcame every prejudice.
Why are Christians not able to overcome every prejudice as well? We need to remember that a very prejudiced Jew named Saul hated gentiles. But he got saved and God changed him so much that he became the Apostle to the Gentiles (Galatians 2:8).
“For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles.”
God gave His Son to suffer and die on the cross so that everyone who believes will receive eternal life (John 3:16). Whether male or female, Jew or Gentile, small or great, low or high, and whatever race you belong to, Jesus died for you.
As recipients of God’s amazing grace, let us sympathize with the lost and give them the gospel. Let us avoid prejudice at all costs and help them come into a saving relationship with the Lord.
Final Words
Being a born-again believer does not make us any better than others. Every Christian was a sinner saved by grace. If God is not patient and compassionate, we would still be wallowing in our sin and rebellion.
Do we believe that we can come up with an excuse to be indifferent, insensitive, or hateful toward anyone? How sympathetic are we?
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Recommended Resource: Radical Compassion: Finding Christ in the Heart of the Poor by Gary Smith
For almost ten years, Gary Smith, S.J., lived and worked among the poor of Portland, Oregon.
With this memoir, he invites us to walk with him and meet some of the abandoned, overlooked, and forgotten members of our society with whom he has shared his life.
Just as Smith found a deeper, truer understanding of himself and the heart of God through his work, these people and their stories stand to transform us.
“Although its subject matter is bleak, the book is not. Smith has found love amid the despair. His book is touching, at times hopeful, and the kind of book that is hard to put down, that fascinates, horrifies, and rivets one’s attention.”