A Soft and Tender Heart

The choices you make as a Believer have a huge impact on your life and the lives of others. For it to be a godly impact, you must maintain a soft and tender heart towards God. 

Choosing that kind of heart is up to you. He'll help you, but you determine the tenderness of your heart.

Psalm 95:7-8 (NIV)

Today, if only you would hear his voice, “Do not harden your hearts..."

 

He wouldn't have said that if you didn't have a choice in the matter. As Tarzan might have said it, 

"Hard heart bad. Soft heart good."

 

The more you choose to walk in tenderness to His heart and voice, the more you will experience Him, hear Him, feel the passions of His heart, and grasp incredible wonders in the Bible.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said 

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.   Matthew 5:8 (NKJV)

That's not just about seeing Him in Heaven. For the pure in heart, seeing Him begins in the here and now.

He has a customized call on your life, a plan tailored just for you. Poetically speaking, He is romancing you, but He won't force you. You must choose to love Him back. Then, to walk in more of His plan and presence, you must choose to keep a tender, yielded heart.

You'll also need a renewed mind. Everyone's faith walk improves with an ongoing Biblical upgrade to their thinking. 

2 Timothy 2:15 (Amplified Bible)

Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.

 

More Holy Spirit driven Bible study, please!

He is "the Author and Finisher of our faith" according to Hebrews 12:2, but you need to make the choice to keep a tender, yielded heart.

• He doesn't make anyone choose what's wrong.

• He doesn't make anyone choose what's right.

• He won't violate your free will, though He'll try to influence you. 

Keep in mind that we'll each have to answer for our choices. It's important for Believers to keep a tender heart that makes the right choices.

In spite of people's issues, foot dragging and outright rebellion, He continually tries to draw everyone.

Jeremiah 31:3 (NKJV)

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you.

 

Notice that He is drawing everyone, but not forcing anyone.  

Pay particular attention to this: as people exercise their free will to accept or reject Him, He won't force anyone's response. He'll woo them but won't force them.

Even Born Again Believers still have to choose His ways daily. Your spirit has been born again, merged in a mysterious but very real way with the Holy Spirit. But your mind, will and emotions...that is, your soul...still needs a boatload of work.

Luke 9:23-24 (NIV)

Then He (Jesus) said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it."

It's so easy to quit growing and then slip back into old, wrong ways that war against your soul, that is, your mind, will, and emotions.

In 2 Peter 1:9 (NIV), Believers are warned that they can become 

...nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

 

1 Peter 2:11 (RSV) goes even further, saying that 

...passions of the flesh...wage war against your soul.

 

You'll always have free will. He'll work to correct His children as needed, but He'll never override anyone's free will. You must choose daily to have a tender heart towards Him. And if you don't?

Hebrews 12:5-6 (The Voice translation)

...My child, do not ignore the instruction that comes from the Lord, or lose heart when He steps in to correct you; For the Lord disciplines those He loves and He corrects each one He takes as His own.

 

His path is wonderful. But if you're like me on that wonderful path, your trail has been littered with the dirty dishes of your life, with your hiccups, half-steps and missteps.

It's easy to blame things on Satan and his minions, but the truth is that I've often been my own worst enemy. Even so, God sticks with me and pulls me through. He'll pull you through, too, but always remember this: It will be easier if you choose to stay tender-hearted and yielded to Him.

In my personal story, after I was born again many years ago, my earliest calling was to a life of prayer and intercession. Looking back with great regret, over the years there were seasons when I made foolish, wrong-headed, hard-hearted choices. Those seasons had consequences for me and for others.

But instead of facing up to my responsibility, I excused myself and blamed God. Self deception made me feel like I couldn't trust Him. The truth was that I couldn't trust myself.

In those seasons, I didn't maintain the heart surrender and tenderness that a true disciple's life requires. I wasn't consistently walking closely with Him in my heart.

Maybe you can identify with this. There have been times when I've acted outside of God's character. I've wrestled with myself in those seasons. Thankfully, Scripture and the Holy Spirit taught me to repent as deeply as I know how.

In my repentance, Jesus doesn't ever have to die for me again. My born again spirit doesn't ever have to be "born again" again.

But, my soul! Oh, my soul still needs plenty of work. The transformation of my mind, will and emotions is an ongoing process.

I'm not the same man I was twenty, ten or even two years ago. As the process continues, I recognize that my soul still needs more of the renewing work of Scripture and of the Holy Spirit.

I deeply wish I could go back and redo those wasted seasons. Only God knows the full impact of the times I didn't keep a tender heart to Him.

I'm reminded of what the Business world calls ROI, that is, Return on Investment. The way I see it, the Lord Jesus has invested a lot of effort in me and has comparatively gotten very little back in return.

But He always remains loving, gracious and full of mercy. I'm so grateful that He never gives up on me. He never gives up on you, either.

When He helps me recognize that I'm missing His target, even in what may seem to be a small, hidden way, I've learned to confess it and ask Him to cleanse me from whatever root of iniquity is behind it.

1 John 1:9 (NKJV)

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

So I choose to confess and renounce the issue as best I can understand it. I also choose to seek and accept whatever change He wants to bring, however He wants to bring it.

Can asking Him to bring "whatever change He wants to bring" be scary? Yes, it can be very scary.

Does it demand a deeper level of trust and surrender? Yes, it always demands deeper trust and surrender.

Is it worth it? Yes, absolutely yes, it's worth it.

The choices you make after conversion, both good and bad, have a huge impact on your growth and influence in both the seen and unseen realms. You can't fix others, but you can most certainly influence them.

The Bible is chock full of instructions about choices New Testament Believers should make. The better you know the Bible, the better you'll understand those instructions.

But the choice to maintain a tender heart is yours. Don't blame God for your wrong choices, not even for your "almost but not quite right" choices. You know, your "close but no cigar" choices. In the midst of whatever mess you're in, be thankful that He is a God of mercy, compassion, and grace.

Choose to have a tender heart. As the saying goes, if you find yourself in a hole, quit digging. Surrender to His rescue and transformation.

He's not trying to punish you. He's preparing you to be with Him in Heaven. His plans are for your good. He wants to transform your soul as He loves on you for eternity.

Here are some excerpts from Hebrews 12. I'm reading from The Voice translation, verses 5-6, verse 8, and verse 10.

...Do not ignore the instruction that comes from the Lord, or lose heart when He steps in to correct you; For the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He corrects each one He takes as His own.

...if you are not experiencing the correction that all true children receive, then it may be that you are not His children after all.

...God only corrects us for our good so that we may share in His holiness.

 

Keep making the choice to have a tender heart towards Him.

Andrew Wommack puts it like this:

"A hard, unyielding heart leads to sin and unbelief. God won't love you less because He can't love you less. He can't stop wanting His best for you, but you can love Him less."

 

If this speaks to your heart, say this prayer with me.

Father, whatever has to change, however you want me to grow, I want a far deeper, far more loving, personal and intimate relationship with You than I have now. Please lead me there. Grant me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in my walk with you. Help me to have a tender, yielded heart.

In Jesus' name, Amen.