• empath
    Boundaries,  Boundary Lines,  Burden-bearing,  codependency,  Discernment,  emotional health,  Identity,  Redemptive Gifts

    The Empath Survival Kit: Loving Constructively

    Empath is a relatively new term to enter our vernacular. The dictionary defines empath as (chiefly in science fiction) a person with the paranormal ability to apprehend the mental or emotional state of another individual. Signs of an Empath The term has come to mean those people with the spiritual gift of burden-bearing, at least in a Christian context. Are you a burden-bearer? Those of us with this gift can sense the suffering of others and are often motivated to sit with them in their slough of despair. Please note that I am not talking about empaths as intuitives. I am discussing this, not from a New Age perspective but from…

  • mercy
    Featured,  Spiritual Gifts

    Five Truths about the Gift of Mercy

    The gift of mercy is a rough gig. I used to say that all women go around with a broken heart. I projected this particular spiritual gift onto everyone because my heart regularly aches for those around me. It didn’t occur to me that not everyone’s heart does. Now I realize that almost anyone with the gift of mercy carries a heart wounded on behalf of others. And I also know now that not everyone has this gift. The world would be a quite different place if they did, and not necessarily better. But as is the case with any spiritual gift, immaturity can hamper its effectiveness. I believe spiritual…

  • Burden-bearing
    Burden-bearing

    #Triggered: Burden-Bearing without Bondage

    Burden-bearing is a spiritual gifting which many possess but few know how to manage. Natural empaths, those of us who enter easily into the suffering of another, can become depressed and even cynical if we do not understand the nature of the gifting with which we were probably born. To first identify if you are a burden bearer, ask yourself the following questions: Do you feel what others are feeling? Can you accurately identify others’ emotions, sometimes to the point where they feel you can practically read their minds? Do you find yourself unable to face people sometimes because you have a hard time closing yourself off to other people’s…