Ephesians 4:32 urges us to be kind to each other, adding that we should be “tenderhearted.”
Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32 urges us to be kind to each other, adding that we should be “tenderhearted.” The Greek word translated as “tenderhearted” can also mean “compassionate.” Many times, we lack compassion not because we’re hard-hearted people, but because we’re too busy, or too focused on the work we’re doing to see people as full human beings. Followers of Jesus, however, seek to imitate his tenderhearted compassion as we love others with Christ-like love.
After encouraging us to “Be kind to one another,” Ephesians 4:32 adds, “tenderhearted.” The Greek word translated here as “tenderhearted” literally means “having good bowels” (eusplanchnos). Speakers of New Testament Greek located emotions, not in our hearts, but in the vital organs beneath our hearts (stomach, kidneys, intestines, etc.). If you’ve ever actually sensed emotions in your stomach, you’ll know why the Greeks did this.
Another English translation of eusplanchnos would be “compassionate” (as in the NIV).
Tenderhearted or compassionate people allow the feelings of others to touch their own souls. When people around them grieve, compassionate people feel sad as well. When others are needy, tenderhearted people sense that need. It’s easy to make the connection between kindness and compassion. When you feel what others around you feel, you’re better able to figure out what they need and you’re more motivated to act for their benefit.
Are you compassionate? Are you tenderhearted? Or are you too absorbed in your own life to feel what others are feeling? Are you too focused on the task at hand to pay attention to the people doing the task? In many cases, our lack of compassion for others reflects not so much our hard-heartedness as our sheer busyness. If we stop to consider the people around us, and especially if we take time to pray for them, we will often sense the Lord soften our hearts toward those people.
Sometimes, however, we need more than time. We need to be intentional about feeling what the people around us feel, remembering that they are human beings who experience emotions just as we do.
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