If there is one attribute I desire, it would be a tender heart. The word has to do with compassion and mercy. This is akin to God, for the tender mercy of our God is mentioned in Luke 1:78. Then James 5:11 tells us that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
If I could only weep with them that weep. Not falseness, but with real heart. It is said that we must experience something before we can enter into it, I believe this is true. It certainly is when there is a great hurt to these bodies in which we live. Ever after, when we see someone experiencing what we have endured, we are greatly moved toward them.
I visited a brother in the hospital who had just been opened with the surgeon's knife, and truly I wept. Pain is real no matter how rough and tough a man is. It is also true in the loss of a dear loved one. We do not weep until we suffer the same loss. It is easy to weep if you know.
If we could bring this over into the spiritual realm, and when we talk with a sinner, God would give us grace to enter in. Do you remember? Oh, do I remember! That at that time ye were without Christ .... having no hope (Eph. 2:12). Hopeless! Sinners are in a hopeless state. Weep over their profoundly sad condition. It is easy to weep if you have been there. If not, your heart is hard.
Tenderhearted! What a good thing to desire. Our first thought is anything but tender. As I think on our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, I am greatly ashamed that I have not even begun to show His attribute of compassion. He wept over the city, and I rarely think of the great mass of sinners on the sure road to hell. Can you even imagine the state they are in? To be without hope forever. Lord, give us a tender heart.
JS
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