Empathy Key to Kindness and Compassion - Cultivate Fellow Feeling

Cultivate Fellow Feeling

We may not naturally be very empathetic, yet we can cultivate this fellow feeling. If we listen more attentively, observe more keenly, and imagine ourselves in the situation of another more frequently, our empathy will grow.  We will as a result feel impelled to show more love, kindness, and compassion to our children, to other Christians, and to our neighbors.

Never allow selfishness to smother your empathy.  "None of you should think only of his own affairs," Paul wrote, "but consider other people's interest also."  (Philippians 2:4, Phillips)  our everlasting future depends on the empathy of Jehovah and of his High Priest,Jesus Christ.  Thus, we have a moral obligation to cultivate this quality.  Our empathy  will empower us to become better ministers and better parents.  Above all, empathy will help us to discover that "there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving." -Acts  20:35.

Next time: WHEN IT IS WISE TO RUN AWAY

The Watchtower, 2002