How can we feel what others feel? In order to do this, we must be very objective in regard to our own feelings. We may feel something, but we must be objective in regard to our own feelings before we can have the capacity to feel what he feels. But if we are too busy with our own feelings, we will not be sensitive enough to consider his feelings. We must remember that we are the servants of the saints for Christ's sake. Not only should we give our time and strength to them; we should make our affections available to them as well. This is a crucial matter. Not only should we help them solve their problems; we should accommodate their feelings with our feelings as well. Our feelings should be available to share in others' feelings. This is what the Scripture means when it says that the Lord Jesus, who was tempted in all respects like us, is touched with the feeling of our weaknesses (Heb. 4:15).

Brothers and sisters, our emotions have to be dealt with by the Lord so that they can become available. If our emotions are overactive and we are preoccupied with our own feelings, we will never be able to enter into others' feelings. Hence, we must make not only our time available to others but our emotions as well. This means that our love, joy, and sorrow should not be occupied, but rather available, when others are speaking to us. If our whole being is occupied by a certain feeling, there will not be any space within us for others' feelings; we will not have the capacity to meet others' needs. If we do not have any joy or sorrow of our own, but are fully available before the Lord, we will be able to enter into others' feelings. If we are constantly busy with our own feelings, we will be too preoccupied to feel for others when they come to us.

God has a very high standard for those who serve Him. A servant of the Lord has no time to feel happy or sorry for himself. If we indulge in our own laughter and tears and in our own likes and dislikes, we will have no room within for the needs of others. We must remember that a servant of the Lord must be empty within. If we cling to our own pleasures and griefs, begrudging the letting go of this and that, we will be too full to take care of others. We will be like a room that is full of furniture; it has no space to accommodate anything further. Many brothers and sisters cannot work for the Lord because they have expended all their love on themselves and have none to spare for others. We need to realize that there is a limit to our soul-strength just as there is a limit to our physical strength. Our emotional energy is not boundless. If we exhaust our soul in one direction, we will have nothing to give in another direction. For this reason, anyone who has an inordinate affection for another person cannot be the Lord's servant. The Lord Himself said, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters,...he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26). This is because when we love these things, our love is exhausted on them. We have to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind, and our whole strength (Mark 12:30). This means that we have to give all our love to God. It is a good thing for us to discover that we are limited in many ways. We must realize that our capacity is limited. Our vessel is limited. If we fill it with other things, we will not have any space for more. We are limited by our capacity. In order to enter into others' feelings, we have to make our own feelings available. Our mind and emotions have to be available before we can identify with others' feelings. If our hands are filled with assignments, we cannot take up any requests from others. If our hearts are weighted down by burdens of our own, others cannot share their burdens with us. Hence, whoever makes himself most available is capable of embracing the most. Those who love themselves or their families too much have little love for the brothers. A man's capacity for love is only so big; he has to drop all other loves before he can love the brothers and understand the meaning of brotherly love. Then he will be able to work for the Lord.

The fundamental requirement of everyone who is engaged in the Lord's work is to know the cross. A man who does not know the cross is useless in the Lord's work. If you do not know the cross, you will always be subjective. Your thoughts will wander unceasingly, and you will live constantly in your own feelings. You have to come back to the knowledge of the cross. There is no cheap and easy way. You must receive fundamental dealings from the Lord. Without these dealings, you will be spiritually worthless. May the Lord be merciful to us and deal with us so that we will not remain complacent in our subjectivity. We do not want to have unchecked thoughts, nor do we want to be insensitive in our feelings. A worker has to open up himself to embrace others' problems. If we do this, we will know what others are saying as soon as they come to us. We will know the words that they have not said, as well as the words that are in their spirit.