By Todd Barrier  

In Romans 12:15, the Bible teaches us to “Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.” We usually do a great job with the first part. If someone has good news or good things, big or small, happen to them we are very quick to praise and be happy for them. The last part sometimes becomes much harder. When someone loses a loved one or has a tragedy in their lives, I think we usually do a pretty good job of weeping along with people in those situations. However, when smaller things (as we deem them) happen, we may not be weeping or empathizing with people like we should be. Certain situations or personal things that go on in people’s lives are often easily dismissed.  

If it’s something we haven’t gone through or don’t understand the situation, we might not be doing as good of a job as we should when it comes to comforting others. 

In Romans 2:16 the Bible says to be humble and not wise in our own opinion; in 2:18 we are told that as much as it depends on us, we are to live peaceably with all men. Maybe if we were a little more humble and peaceful, we would look for more opportunities to comfort those who need it even if we don’t understand their situation. Even if we don’t understand it, it’s real to them and causes them to weep and we should weep right along with them.  

Are you providing comfort to those in need?