Tenderness and Touching Hearts

Tenderness is a key, especially when it comes to matters of the heart and spirit.
It can unlock places that have been closed off for years.
What is buried in the hearts of the people around us is either baggage, or staples for the journey.
To help them discover what is baggage, and help them separate it from what is necessary, is a great thing, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is asking the questions and letting them find the answers, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

It is becoming clear to me that I have a particular struggle with defensiveness in certain conversations. One thing that I know is imperative when encountering people, especially during difficult conversations, is to remember to be tender toward their hearts. No matter what my ears are hearing, my heart should be sensing the place that they are coming from.

Defensiveness has no place in Christian relationships, even when defending Christ. Defensiveness is actually my fear of not being heard, or understood.  There is no place for fear in these conversations, because the Holy Spirit is right here, all the time, and He speaks the Truth to my heart. He will give me the words to say. In fact, maybe the right words will be no words. Listening and praying may be what He asks at that time. A conversation with a person should not be seen first as a battle in the war against the Faith, and then as a personal mission to "save" them. It is the Holy Spirit that is doing the saving.

 Defending the Faith will not be accomplished by a crusade against people's opinions, or their understanding. The attacks on the Faith are coming from powers that most people aren't even aware of, so when words are spoken that are in opposition to the Truth, the majority of the time the person speaking them is simply repeating something that the culture has whispered. It isn't a personal attack on me or the Church.

There is so much work to be done, and we are all called to it!
The harvest is massive, but there has been much damage. Some of the laborers have been asleep, and others have actually been destroying the fruit.
The call to enter the vineyard can't be ignored anymore. Lives are being lost.

It is a great Blessing to be about this kind of work, and I want so much to answer the call, but I have such a long way to go.
I have to be more of a help, and not a hindrance.

To know in the head, is a long way from being able to touch hearts.

There is no place for "You just need to...."

There is no room for inserting personal bias.

There is only room for Truth. Truth will fill the emptiness and heal the wounds.
Not "my" Truth, but The Truth.