In my youth television was replete with dramas known as “Westerns.” Most any night of the week you could watch cowboys riding into town with their six-shooters.
One theme that recurred in many of these Westerns was that of a newcomer who came into town naïve about the ways of the Wild West. He would make foolish mistakes or be gullible about simple things that were well known to the “Old Hands.” These naïve, gullible people were given the moniker: Tenderfoot!
No one wanted to be a tenderfoot. It indicated that you didn’t know much about anything.
Sometimes a tenderfoot would try to start a ranch in the most inappropriate place. He would have dreams and visions that were well beyond reality. When the seasoned westerners discussed this tenderfoot and his outlandish ideas, he would be described as soft-in-the-head!
Unfortunately, in a sin hardened world, Christians who seek to be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving are sometimes thought to be naïve tenderfoots who are soft-in-the-head. In many areas of life, being hardhearted and pragmatic is simply the way things are done.
How sad it is when this is also true in the Church. How wonderful it is when the people of God come together and are kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgives!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, give me a tender heart for Christ’s sake. Amen.
God’s richest blessings in Christ,
Pastor Philip Quardokus
Download a pdf of all the Lenten devotions here.
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