This is so true. You can sit down with an old friend and continue your conversation like you never left it with no awkward pauses wondering what to say next.
Absolutely correct, though hard to do. We should always turn everything over to Christ, but its difficult not to step in and try to help him out when things aren't progressing as we expect, even though he doesn't need us and we usually end up mucking things up. Sadly, the truth is, we love to complain. We can get like the Israelites being led by Moses in the desert ... always complaining.
Absolutely. And I don't think that means that friends themselves should never change. We all go through changes in our lives, but we stay friends with someone no matter what changes in our friend's life. Its the friendship itself that never changes.
I like this one. I don't tend to make friends quickly, but instead try to spend my time understanding the depth of a friend--where they may be coming from. I see people who go through friends like they go through shoes, always looking for a better one or only dealing with surface feelings. I think its better to invest time in a friendship and get to know someone at a deeper level. Good quote.
Oh absolutely. There is a real difference between sympathy and empathy. Sympathy doesn't more fully reach down into what the other person is feeling, only empathy can do that ... by actually trying to feel what the other person is feeling. In sympathy, focus remains on yourself, in empathy, the focus is on the other person.
I like your quote from Galatians. Its a good one. The writer of Hebrews also said it well: "Remember the prisoners as if chained with them--those who are mistreated--
since you yourselves are in the body also" (Hebrews 13:3).
To empathize, we must chain ourselves to the pain and hurt of others.
So true. Unconditional love is a hard concept to grasp--its hard to love when you receive nothing in return. And we are just as hard on ourselves. I believe we have to start with ourselves first. You have to learn to take care of yourself--physically as well as emotionally--before you can take care of others.
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