I've observed that people get empathy and sympathy mixed up. em = to put into (to put yourself in someone else's shoes), sym = to mirror/join together (someone was sad so I sat down with them and made them feel better about it).
This is why dogs are very sympathetic, which makes them appear human because they feel how we feel, but only a conscious person who is more self-aware can be empathetic and see the solution to how you feel.
I find a lot of people struggle with empathy, yet might say they are empathic but are actually more sympathetic. They will often speak without thinking who they are affecting. This is simply a lack of self-awareness.
Jesus was an example of a pure empath. That is why some of the actions and things he said, may have come across as harsh or angry, but it is tough love that forces people to question their actions, hence 'self-awareness'. And it is more loving than being passive or neutral.
Jesus said, forgive them father, for they know not what they do. In essence, saying that these people lacked self-awareness.
So the first thing in letting go of your sinful nature is to be aware of it. For me, and yes this is just my personal opinion because I look at things differently, Jesus's death on the cross gave people self-awareness of their actions. I believe after Jesus was crucified, self-awareness started to evolve, and humans thought things could be better, and that this and that is wrong, and this is sin and that is not. Again these are just my thoughts in the moment, nothing in stone.
Jesus was the one true empath, and it is our empathy which we need to work on to be closer to God and to be less sinful. Empathy is kind of a knowing, knowing comes from knowledge, and also comes from God because God is all-knowing.