What is the difference between empowering and enabling?

Empowering enables the positive.

Enabling enables the negative.

They are basically the same. The difference in usage depends on the state and intent of the person that it is directed at.

My experience has been generally that if you empower someone, you are allowing them to do something for themselves. They get to make the decisions and take the actions. But there is the implied understanding that they also get to deal with the results, good or bad. If you are enabling someone, you are taking on the responsibilities for the negative outcomes of their actions. I have seen this with heroin addicts. The addict gives over every thing for their next fix. In the real world, that would mean they would spend their money on drugs instead of food, housing, etc. And they do. If you are enabling this person, you are making sure they have food, clothing, housing, etc without any true demands on them at all. They get to do the drugs, you get to make life work for them.

Empowering means to give someone the ability to take charge of their life. Enabling usually means allowing someone to continue what they are already doing, and often has a negative connotation, as @seawulf575 showed.