And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. (Eph 4:32)
Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous . . . (1 Pet 3:8)
. . . because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord. (2 Chr 34:27)
Tenderhearted means kind, gentle, compassionate, or sympathetic. We don’t often consider this, but tenderheartedness is an attribute of Jesus. This is why He was reported to have wept over Jerusalem. (Lk 19:41) He saw into their future, and He had compassion for all of the people who lived there.
So, too, the Lord wants us to be tenderhearted toward others. He wants our compassion and gentleness to move us to help others and to be merciful to them. Someone who is tenderhearted would never rejoice over someone else’s calamity or misfortune. Rather they would be moved to have sympathy for them, and to pray for them and consider how they might be able to help them.
And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He [Jesus] said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. (Mk 3:5 – parenthesized word added)
Jesus did this miracle deliberately even though He knew that the scribes who were in the crowd were silently critical of His actions. Their hardness of heart angered the Lord, but He determined to continue to minister His love and mercy in spite of their doubt and criticism. He demonstrated His tenderheartedness to the man with the withered hand.
Let us always have a tender heart towards ALL who need salvation, healing, and mercy. Jesus gave us His example to follow by ministering to those who were hurting, in pain, or impoverished due to a sickness or disease with which they had been afflicted. Jesus came to bring salvation to mankind, and He tenderheartedly fulfilled His assignment. Hallelujah!
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