The Daily Word

 

I want to continue the thoughts I started from Ephesians 4.

Last week we started by looking at the first part of v 32, ‘Be kind to one another’ and the verse goes on to say, “be tenderhearted”. This conflicts with the primary attitude today where hardness is more respected than being tender hearted. Little respect is given to someone who is ‘soft’, unless they are a public figure involved in some major charity work. But as an ordinary human being, being gentle and having care for others, even those we don’t actually know does not merit the world’s consideration. But that is the exhortation that Paul gives us.

James, the practical apostle, puts it another way. If we see a practical need in another person which we are able to satisfy and we just say, ‘I will pray for you’, that is not tender heartedness. That quality involves giving of ourselves.

But it also carries the thought of always looking for the best in others and seeking never to attribute negative rationale as to their behaviour and acts.

Being tender hearted will sometimes bring us emotional pain, but when we see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, can we not endure for Him?

Article written by Brian Preston, Elder @SFGH Church