It’s interesting how perspectives can be misunderstood. Take church during a February blizzard, for example. If services are held in the snowy conditions: “How dare you expect me to drive in this!” But only a few years ago a government mandate shut the doors of churches. “How dare you take away my right to worship!” Or how about the person in the hallway who doesn’t return your hello? “Oh, they must hate me.”

Perspective? Or reality? We are the masters of our own storylines. We love to be the stars and too often the victims. Let’s take some perspective from our Savior. A woman in Nain had just lost her only son: “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her” (Luke 7:13). Jesus didn’t tell this widow to suck it up buttercup. Instead he understood exactly how she was feeling. 

Empathy is putting yourself into the shoes of the other person. Instead of launching a tirade of when and in what conditions we worship, we can focus on the One we are worshiping. Instead of assuming someone who doesn’t return our hello doesn’t like us, we can offer empathy—turns out she’s hurting after losing her father. She needs our prayers vs. our “woe is me.”

Let’s dim the light on our stars and focus more on a Savior who despite his star status “did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage” (Philippians 2:6). 

You are loved and forgiven. That’s not a perspective but a reality you can share.