Hebrews 2:8 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

The difference between empathy and compassion is personal experience. Empath means to feel. You can have compassion for others without having felt what that person is going through. Here we see Jesus giving comfort to those who are tempted because He was tempted, empathy.

We go through a lot more in life than just temptation. The feelings that I struggle with, I would like to think Jesus felt that way also, that He understands how I feel. Many times I have heard others say, “You don’t know what it is like.” I’ve uttered those words myself.

I was a drug addict for a season. There is nowhere in the bible that says Jesus was a drug addict. He didn’t have to live with that. He was perfect in all His ways. How could he understand?

John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

I never understood how I could do greater works than my Lord until I understood that I have empathy for drug addicts because I know what it is like. I felt it. I am the vessel of His understanding, having gone through things He could not. Jesus gets to have empathy for them through me, because now I am in Him and He in me and all that I have felt, He feels.

Do not believe the lie that Jesus does not know how you feel. He does because of those who have been through what you have and are now members of the body of Christ, feeling members, empaths.

John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

We have been endeavoring to combat lies with truth. There is a large segment of society today that says there are no absolute truths. Personally, I don’t understand that kind of thinking. If truth is not absolute what is it? I struggle with that question because I do not think that way. They struggle with absolute truth because they do not think as I think. That makes it hard for me to place myself in a position to understand their thinking.

If their truth is not absolute then it must be understanding that has a tuning dial. If they do not like what they are hearing, they tune in elsewhere. I do understand that the dictionary gives room in definition to allow for consensus agreement being truth. Does what others believe define truth?

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

The issue of itching ears is seeking someone who will tell them what they want to hear. Those being discussed are church members. If the church itself can be turned away from truth, then a secular society that does not know truth must be even further removed from being set free.

The object hear is to be set free from the lies of the enemy which entraps our lives and leads to sin. What we listen to has great influence. We must be careful to what we tune in and listen to every day. Just because it sounds good does not make it truth. Eve learned that lesson the hard way.