Tender Hearts

I want to open with this statement having a tender heart towards others is not a virtue just for a woman to own - MEN!

1 Peter 3:8 ESV

8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

The Bible portrays the heart as far more than an organ—it is the center of human existence. The heart represents the core of personality and encompasses human will, affect, and intellect, encompassing thinking, feeling, doubting, believing, remembering, and acting.

Tender Hearted: A quality of showing compassion, kindness, and sensitivity, encouraged as a Christian virtue in relationships with others.

Proverbs 4:23 ESV

23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

How can we be tender when we allow hardness, to be a rule of law in our hearts?

Matthew 5:8 ESV

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Is it not better, to do things the way God desires rather then the way we embrace?

So how do we assure our selfs we maintain a tender heart?

First we must ask do I really desire to be tender at heart.

Then we guard our heart by keeping watch over it with God’s word!

Ephesians 4:31–32 ESV

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

You have to settle that you will never function at the highest level of love without, tenderness!

Critically, being tenderhearted means allowing God’s way of thinking to orient one’s emotions, with biblical understanding showing that the mind influences emotions rather than the reverse.

Do others see your tenderness towards them?

True tenderheartedness emerges when a person permits God’s perspective to guide their emotional responses.

This quality of goodheartedness motivates us to address others’ needs and prevents us from relating through hardness—instead, God desires that we be moved by the pain we witness in others.

The distinction matters: Healthy emotions are those shaped by submission to God’s Word, responding to His viewpoint and the Christian way of life.

So what are some biblical ways to work on becoming tenderhearted?

1 Thessalonians 5:14–19 ESV

14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit.

Let finish where we started 1 Peter3

1 Peter 3:8–12 AMP

8 Finally, all [of you] should be of one and the same mind (united in spirit), sympathizing [with one another], loving [each other] as brethren [of one household], compassionate and courteous (tenderhearted and humble). 9 Never return evil for evil or insult for insult (scolding, tongue-lashing, berating), but on the contrary blessing [praying for their welfare, happiness, and protection, and truly pitying and loving them]. For know that to this you have been called, that you may yourselves inherit a blessing [from God—that you may obtain a blessing as heirs, bringing welfare and happiness and protection]. 10 For let him who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good—whether apparent or not] keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from guile (treachery, deceit). 11 Let him turn away from wickedness and shun it, and let him do right. Let him search for peace (harmony; undisturbedness from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts) and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!] 12 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God), and His ears are attentive to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who practice evil [to oppose them, to frustrate, and defeat them].

Colossians 3:12–13 ESV

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

We must understand tenderness is NOT WEAKNESS it is God likeness!

Psalm 103:13 ESV

13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

Compassion : to love, love deeply, have mercy, be compassionate, have tender affection, have compassion.

We will never accept being tender as long as we see it as weakness.

I assure you it takes much more love to be tender then it does to be hardhearted !

Ask!!

Psalm 51:10 ESV

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.