Empaths, yes or no?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Merida

Active member
Oct 26, 2018
107
61
28
#81
and Satan is clever enough to turn that against us somehow

1 Cor 10:12 - if you think you are standing firm, be careful do not fall
So are you saying that somehow we should turn off our empathy towards other people and animals? Like a light switch? Because doing so would also turn off our compassion. Would Jesus want you to be void of compassion for others?
 
T

theanointedsinner

Guest
#82
So are you saying that somehow we should turn off our empathy towards other people and animals? Like a light switch? Because doing so would also turn off our compassion. Would Jesus want you to be void of compassion for others?
thinking like that would be no different than the pendulum mentality, we've seen what the pendulum can do in the other thread, if extremes are bad, we want balance

or discernment
 

Merida

Active member
Oct 26, 2018
107
61
28
#83
I'm very confused on this issue. Having feelings of empathy and compassion for others is what I was always told was the Christ-like thing to do. Why would we have been created to have these emotions, if they are wrong? Doesn't make any sense to me. This is just an issue I guess some people will never agree on.
 

Demi777

Senior Member
Oct 13, 2014
6,889
1,958
113
Germany
#84
I'm very confused on this issue. Having feelings of empathy and compassion for others is what I was always told was the Christ-like thing to do. Why would we have been created to have these emotions, if they are wrong? Doesn't make any sense to me. This is just an issue I guess some people will never agree on.
being an empath and having empathy are two completely different things. THAT is what we are talking about. Its the wording.
U cant serve two masters. calling urself an empath is making an accociation to divination. being an empathetic person has something to do with God and decernment
 

Merida

Active member
Oct 26, 2018
107
61
28
#85
being an empath and having empathy are two completely different things. THAT is what we are talking about. Its the wording.
U cant serve two masters. calling urself an empath is making an accociation to divination. being an empathetic person has something to do with God and decernment
I see what you mean now. Okay. I guess I was only associating empath with empathy - as it's a word derived from empathy.
 

Laish

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2016
1,666
449
83
58
#86
being an empath and having empathy are two completely different things. THAT is what we are talking about. Its the wording.
U cant serve two masters. calling urself an empath is making an accociation to divination. being an empathetic person has something to do with God and decernment
Good post ! You almost read my mind. Oh no lol
All jokes aside You make a good point. The two are quite different. One is a blessing ( empathy) the other can lead to darkness or arrogance.
Blessings
Bill
 
T

theanointedsinner

Guest
#87
in BDF forums, if I were to guess, most would walk into that forum, with the constant threat of being considered as "unsaved" by their opponent, and we know how that can trigger "fight or flight" and how it can lead people to retaliate

the mentality is simply "defensive" so that's why it keeps going nowhere, and people are somehow less willing to listen to whom they consider as unsaved, as if the opponent of the debate = enemy, and they are in a verbal "holy war" where they would rather repeat their point to the point of redundancy and figuratively "die a martyr", instead of having an open mind to consider common ground and work from there.

BDF unleashes the flesh within
 

CharliRenee

Member
Staff member
Nov 4, 2014
6,693
7,176
113
#88
I definitely see that potent
in BDF forums, if I were to guess, most would walk into that forum, with the constant threat of being considered as "unsaved" by their opponent, and we know how that can trigger "fight or flight" and how it can lead people to retaliate

the mentality is simply "defensive" so that's why it keeps going nowhere, and people are somehow less willing to listen to whom they consider as unsaved, as if the opponent of the debate = enemy, and they are in a verbal "holy war" where they would rather repeat their point to the point of redundancy and figuratively "die a martyr", instead of having an open mind to consider common ground and work from there.

BDF unleashes the flesh within
Yes, I definitely see that potential. I do think it would be refreshing to find harmony in the scriptures, the kind that looks at the scriptures entirety. Looking at the points ppl have along with the scriptures presented should be able to stand the test looking at all the scriptures presented. He is a God of order.
 

Lillywolf

Well-known member
Aug 29, 2018
1,562
543
113
#89
I'm very confused on this issue. Having feelings of empathy and compassion for others is what I was always told was the Christ-like thing to do. Why would we have been created to have these emotions, if they are wrong? Doesn't make any sense to me. This is just an issue I guess some people will never agree on.
I think you're right.
Too often people relegate that which is a gift of God to the realm of darkness, the esoteric, or the occult. And in that way they can write it off as evil and wrong. And that makes one wonder if that occurs because that which has thus been judged and cast away is something the judges despise because they do not possess the gift they judge.

Jesus was an empath. But he was God so that is to be expected. The gifts of God are uniquely dispensed among his daughters and sons to benefit the whole church and the world itself. And how can we minister or take on the role of missionary if we are incapable of empathizing with those who are lost? A we once were ourselves.
An empath is someone who is able to receive or pick up on a persons emotions. How can that be evil when that knowledge allows us to relate to someone in need? And enhance our own personal relationships.

I think too often we tend to give the devils domain more possessions than we do abide and defend what can be God's gifts.
 
T

theanointedsinner

Guest
#90
as an attempt at humor for an all too serious topic ...

let's try an artificial intelligence that's designed for debating at the highest level of imaginable,

non-feminist: computer, what's the best possible response a non-feminist can give to the feminist?

computer: calculating, ... calculating ...
results analyzed, ... best possible response, "you're right, I should check my privilege"

non-feminist: say what?!?!?! arrgh
 

Merida

Active member
Oct 26, 2018
107
61
28
#91
I think you're right.
Too often people relegate that which is a gift of God to the realm of darkness, the esoteric, or the occult. And in that way they can write it off as evil and wrong. And that makes one wonder if that occurs because that which has thus been judged and cast away is something the judges despise because they do not possess the gift they judge.

Jesus was an empath. But he was God so that is to be expected. The gifts of God are uniquely dispensed among his daughters and sons to benefit the whole church and the world itself. And how can we minister or take on the role of missionary if we are incapable of empathizing with those who are lost? A we once were ourselves.
An empath is someone who is able to receive or pick up on a persons emotions. How can that be evil when that knowledge allows us to relate to someone in need? And enhance our own personal relationships.

I think too often we tend to give the devils domain more possessions than we do abide and defend what can be God's gifts.
Thank you. You explained it so much better than I did. You have a way with words. This is exactly what I was trying to say.
 
T

theanointedsinner

Guest
#92
empath is a bad word? ok

emapthy people might run into the risk of becoming a social camelion because of how feelings can be derived from the general consensus of the crowd, and they can confuse their own feeling with the feelings of others or even the whole crowd

which makes me wonder what would happen in a crowd of social camelions?
 
T

theanointedsinner

Guest
#93
my theory on what the crowd of social camelion might be like ...

... they mimic how each other act while others observe others

everyone is a mirror to everyone

if they are aware that it's a reflection of themselves they'd be paralyzed by self-consciousness and become "inauthentic"

if they are not aware, they'd just "observe and imitate"
 

presidente

Senior Member
May 29, 2013
9,163
1,791
113
#94
The Bible says to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

I've gotten words of knowledge at times and at times while praying ith people I have gotten information about their emotional state or sensed their emotions. I kind of put that in the word of knowledge categor, like I would with feeling the pain in the part of my body where someone else is hurting.
 

Lillywolf

Well-known member
Aug 29, 2018
1,562
543
113
#95
empath is a bad word? ok

emapthy people might run into the risk of becoming a social camelion because of how feelings can be derived from the general consensus of the crowd, and they can confuse their own feeling with the feelings of others or even the whole crowd

which makes me wonder what would happen in a crowd of social camelions?
Typically those that are aware of their empathic abilities know how to shield themselves when in social situations. This doesn't stop them from being able to empathize with others. It enables them to distinguish the feelings held by individuals in that crowd if they so choose.
 

Lillywolf

Well-known member
Aug 29, 2018
1,562
543
113
#96
The Bible says to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

I've gotten words of knowledge at times and at times while praying ith people I have gotten information about their emotional state or sensed their emotions. I kind of put that in the word of knowledge categor, like I would with feeling the pain in the part of my body where someone else is hurting.
That's what being empathic means in the experiential state. Call it, word of knowledge, if that suits. It is all of God. :)
 
T

theanointedsinner

Guest
#97
The Bible says to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
what if someone is angry at you? be angry back at them

to be angry with them, would imply self-hatred, and I hope it doesn't lead to physically hitting yourself in the presence of someone who is angry at you


what we are asking is to refine our understanding, since wisdom is necessary
 
Dec 28, 2016
9,171
2,719
113
#98
I don't think it's a biblical gift as many times it is just common sense when you see a person that they're having emotional issues, especially if you know the person.
 
Dec 28, 2016
9,171
2,719
113
#99
what if someone is angry at you? be angry back at them

to be angry with them, would imply self-hatred, and I hope it doesn't lead to physically hitting yourself in the presence of someone who is angry at you


what we are asking is to refine our understanding, since wisdom is necessary
What????? :confused:
 

presidente

Senior Member
May 29, 2013
9,163
1,791
113
what if someone is angry at you? be angry back at them

to be angry with them, would imply self-hatred, and I hope it doesn't lead to physically hitting yourself in the presence of someone who is angry at you


what we are asking is to refine our understanding, since wisdom is necessary
Romans 12 talks about anger, too.

15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

We are not to recompense evil for evil, and we can let the Lord take vengence.