Tenderness is the Key
Tenderness is the key to the Kingdom. It is the quality of being gentle, loving and kind. What does it look like to bring the tenderness of the Kingdom into the world around you. When you’re tender you have a deep, compassionate, and gentleness of spirit about you especially towards others. This is a reflection of Jesus. This is heaven on earth.
You will find that you are sensitive to the needs of others, willing to forgive and your heart is moved by love and kindness. You’re able to foster healthy relationships and see the truth of situations around you. This is why it is so important to be tender.
What happens when your tenderness is lost? What happens when your true identity is stolen?
Pastor Tim shared the story of Jacob’s life in Gensis on Sunday and it’s quite fascinating how much you see this happening today. This is an opportunity for us to apply our faith to what we are hearing and demand things to change in our lives and the body of Christ so we can represent Jesus well in the earth and make this a better place for thousands of generations ahead of us.
We talked about Rebekah stealing the authentic identity of her son Jacob and what that communicated to him. He was not good enough. She also took his tenderness by covering us his smooth skin with goat hair so the father would not recognize him. Parents, we must be extremely careful with our words to our children. What you think is just a comment can change the course of your child’s life forever and not in a good way. We must hear the voice of the Lord when it comes to speaking to our children.
In life, we encounter people and situations that hurt us. Most often if the wounds we received go unhealed by the Lord, we tend to get calloused hearts. Jacob was forced to leave home after his identity and tenderness were stolen by someone who was supposed to protect him. A lot of people feel homeless in their own hearts because they do not know where they belong. When you lose your true identity and your tenderness, you wonder around in life making decisions that do not profit you.
When your heart is calloused, you trust no one including Abba. You find fault in everyone and everything. Your critical of everything you see and hear. How do we find our way back to tenderness? It starts with real intimacy with Jesus. Real intimacy exposes every part of you to Him. We are talking intimacy in the light, not the dark where you hide some parts of who you are.
Allow His love to remove the callouses. It’s a process of one layer at a time. As you begin to be tender towards Him and find you can trust Him again then you’ll to see changes start in other relationships. All of us who love Jesus, we really do want to be just like Him, but we must be willing to be tender again. This requires vulnerability but we can trust Him with our hearts and our lives.
Today say what He says and see what He does. He says, “You are my beloved, and I Am yours.” You walk in the light of my love. Your heart is tender toward My voice, and you can trust Me.”
Make this declaration over yourself today! I am my beloved’s, and He is mine. I walk in the light of His love and my heart is moved by the tenderness of His voice. I can trust Abba!
