Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12:15
This verse deals with the subject of Christian empathy, not sympathy. Sympathy is subjective emotionalism, whereas empathy is the ability to objectively relate to another person’s situation.
Empathy is the ability to identify with people in their problems. To love with empathy is to put oneself in the place of another. It is the ability to project oneself into the needs of another person.
When we are jealous of another’s success, we cannot rejoice with him because we are in the business of comparing ourselves as being more favorable than he is. A loving person takes pleasure in another’s success. It is more difficult to emphasize with a person’s joys than his sorrows, in the first case the other person needs us, and in the other case he does not.
A hard heart has no compassion for those who sorrow. A loving person is not glad at the calamity of others. We are not alone. God has given us each other to live our lives for him and get us back home to him. Along the way, we want to share each others burdens, soar on each others joys, and love each others hurts. There is no such thing as a solo Christian.
Both rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep are indications of Christian love. Envy and rivalry do not emphasize with others because those sins are self-centered. That attitude is “me against the world.” True biblical attitude is other centered.
Loving Father, lead me to the people today who need their burdens lifted and their joys shared. Let me be your presence in the world of your children today. This I ask in Jesus name. Amen.