kindness and sympathy...

sometimes kindness is just listening. in fact, advice giving can actually be counterproductive to kindness. joe bailey wrote a book on grief, on losing a loved one. he called it a view from the hearse. he says this from his experience: “i was sitting, torn by grief, and somebody came along and talked to me about GOD's dealings of why it happened, of hope beyond the grave. he talked constantly. he said things i knew were true. but i was unmoved, except to wish that he would go away. and he finally did. then another one came and sat beside me, and he didn’t talk at all. he didn’t ask me any leading questions. he just sat beside me for an hour or more, listened when i said something, answered briefly, prayed simply and left. i was moved. i was comforted. i hated to see him go.”

sympathy involves the ears. listening is a form of kindness.

sympathy does two things. it meets two of your basic needs: the need to be understood and the need to have your feelings validated. and both are human needs.

the bible says it like this, galatians 6.2 (nlt), share each other’s troubles and problems and in this way obey the law of CHRIST. what is the law of CHRIST? it’s called the great commandment. love GOD with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. do you like sympathy? of course you do. do you like people to sympathize with you when you’re hurting emotionally, physically, whatever? of course you do. the bible says do the same to others.

GOD often allows problems in your life just to teach you to be sympathetic to others. some of the things that come into your life, you wonder, “why is this happening to me?” i'll tell you why it’s happening. GOD sometimes specifically allows certain problems into your life so you can be sympathetic to other people when they go through them and you don’t say things like, “why don’t you just get your act together? why don’t you just straighten up? if you’d just change your beliefs or change your life …” you’ll be
sympathetic to where they are.

2 corinthians 1.4 (lb), GOD comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials so that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort that GOD has given us. so every problem you go through is an opportunity to learn how to be more sympathetic.

just a thought from the front porch…