Heb 13:3 ‘Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.’
Hebrews 13 calls us to a real love that produces tangible actions: Hospitality towards strangers (vs 2), respect for marriage vows (vs 4), contentment in what you have (vs 5). But I want to focus on (vs 3); we’re told to remember the breathern who are put in bondage. Have empathy, not just sympathy, for those who are oppressed, imprisoned, tortured, and martyred for their faith. There’s great atrocity taking place currently against the Afghan church, as well as in other countries. We must pray and stand for the body of Christ in need, seek God’s mercy for and around them. We must make sure that our love is again action driven and not in thought only. Oppression we know not in America, as of today. We must use our spiritual freedom and put it into prayer action for those who are truly experiencing Heb 13:3, and for the love of Christ we must spiritually walk with them today and every day.
Sympathy is a self-reflecting thought to a situation, whereas empathy is engaging one’s soul into another’s situation to feel their suffering, not yours. Pray with empathy… HSAY
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