Consider others with Love
Do you really understand what tenderhearted really means? Please see this video…
The Way of Man II
(#147 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
www.sufferwell.org
A man and his wife enter the church. After the worship, the pastor begins to preach. The wife is fully engaged while the husband dozes off. He tries his best to stay awake. She nudges him when the service is over. They rise up and leave. For many weeks, this same pattern continues. The pastor notices the husband’s tendency and labels the man as disinterested in spiritual matters. He wonders why the man even comes. Others in the congregation have noticed and wonder the same.
Several weeks pass since the last time the man and his wife attend when she appears alone at a service. Afterwards, she finds the pastor and asks him if she could speak with him. The pastor willingly agrees and quickly discerns the meeting will be about her “disinterested” husband. He is ready to minister to her heart as needed.
As the meeting begins the pastor says, “I have not seen you in church for quite some time. How have you been?”
The lady, with tears streaming down her eyes says, “It’s my husband.”
“Yes, I figured that,” the pastor replies.
She continues, “You see. He has cancer. He is dying. He takes his medication and it makes him very tired and sleepy. He was embarrassed about coming and falling asleep so we’ve just stopped coming. He does not seem to have much time left and he wanted me to tell you something. He said that it made him so happy to be able to come and see you, to listen to you preach. You are his favorite teacher. He asked me to thank you.”
Never judge loved one. Never think you know what’s going on within someone, just by the external appearance of things. Caring takes time, and if you are willing to ask yourself the tough question, do you struggle with caring for others? Healing comes from a mind, spiritually redeemed, that can admit, “I don’t really care about other people as much as I should; help me Yahshua. Give me a heart (mind) that cares for others more than it cares for myself.”
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13)