Soften Your Heart
A twenty-one-year-old music college student took the cheapest ship she could find, calling at the greatest number of countries, and prayed to know where to disembark. She arrived in Hong Kong in 1966 and came to a place called the Walled City. It was a small, densely populated, the lawless area controlled neither by China nor Hong Kong. It was a high-rise slum for drug addicts, gangs, and prostitutes. She wrote:
I loved this dark place. I hated what was happening in it but I wanted to be nowhere else. It was almost as if I could already see another city in its place and that city was ablaze with light. It was my dream. There was no more crying, no more death or pain. The sick were healed, addicts set free, the hungry filled. There were families for orphans, homes for the homeless, and new dignity for those who had lived in shame. I had no idea of how to bring this about but with ‘visionary zeal’ imagined introducing the Walled City people to the one who could change it all: Jesus.
Jackie Pullinger has spent over half a century working with prostitutes, heroin addicts, and gang members. I remember so well a talk she gave some years ago. She began by saying, ‘God wants us to have soft hearts and hard feet. The trouble with so many of us is that we have hard hearts and soft feet.’
Jackie is a glowing example of this; going without sleep, food, and comfort to serve others. God wants us to have soft hearts – hearts of love and compassion. But if we are to make any difference to the world, this will lead to hard feet as we travel along tough paths and face challenges.
Soften your heart towards others - Proverbs 17:5-14
If you have a heart softened by God, you will inevitably demonstrate love towards others. Our aim should be to live a life that ‘promotes love’ (v.9a).
Love the poor. Your attitude to the poor reflects your attitude to God: ‘Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker’ (v.5a). As God’s people, we are called to friendship with and service of the poor.
Love your family. God’s ideal is for you to enjoy close and loving relationships between parents, grandparents, and children: ‘Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children’ (v.6).
Love your friends. The love between close friends is extremely valuable. Guard your friendships. Do not quickly take offense or bear a grudge: ‘Overlook an offense and bond a friendship; fasten on to a slight and – good-bye, friend!’ (v.9, MSG).
Love your critics. Jesus told us, ‘Love your enemies’ (Matthew 5:44). A soft heart is willing to take criticism, whether it comes from a friend or even from an ‘enemy’. ‘A rebuke impresses a discerning person more than a hundred lashes a fool’ (Proverbs 17:10). Do your utmost to avoid arguments: ‘Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out’ (v.14).
