Change how you think - Empathy

Kind of wish I didn't write that last post. Empathy for others can be very difficult and it will test you to your limits. Some people seem to go through life unaware of the how much of a toll they take on others. They adapt to existing on the help they receive from others. Whether they have the mental or emotional awareness to know they are living at the expense of other people may not be apparent, but it's usually irrelevant. Some are not capable of knowing and some are, but if they chose to live that way long enough, they will lose the ability to think any other way.

If you have people like that in your life, you need to decide how and when to help them. It's also important to know what constitutes help and what is just enabling bad patterns. We can usually help people best by setting healthy boundaries. Selfless giving though is costly. Sometimes seeing life through someone else's eyes just re-affirms that they are taking advantage of you again, but that doesn't matter. What matters is how your actions will help that person best. What matters is being able to hear what the Holy Spirit wants you to do and how he wishes to use you in that person's life. There is a lot of dying to self that has to go on inside you to get through that scenario.

In 1 Cor. 6:7, Paul chastises the people in the church at Corinth for their inability to resolve their own disputes. Rather than going to the unbelievers for justice and suing their brother, he says, "Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? (or cheated)" This is a difficult challenge. It hinges on what we value most, our self or others. Jesus tells us over and over again that when we try to preserve our own way, we will lose. Only when we are willing to serve others will life and blessing flow out to everyone involved.

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