God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:8 NLT
I love this newer version’s description of Paul’s feelings for the Philippian church. He loved them with the “tender compassion of Christ Jesus”. This compassion came from a man who was once feared by all Christians as a destroyer of Christians. The Lord had truly changed his heart. God continues even today to change the hearts of His children.
The older and more mature I get in my faith, it is amazing how God has softened my heart, even to those who have once hurt me. My concern for “the least of these” has continued to grow. As I read today’s verse, I could identify the heart of Paul as I thought about the people in the slums of Brazil who I have visited over the past few years. On the radar screen of the world they don’t even register. They are considered unimportant to most people, but they have stolen my heart. I long to see them again.
Ask God to look into your heart. Is your heart softening to the people God loves? Are you becoming less self-centered and more other-centered? Do you have a spiritual longing for the people of the world, desiring with the love of Christ that they come to know Him who made them? God will reach a dying world for Christ with this kind of heart.
God continue to mold our hearts to love the people you love.
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I may not see in front of me, But I can see for miles around when I look over my shoulder, and Lord, it`s clear. You`ve brought me here, So faithful every step of the way. What can I do but follow you, For You are the Way, the Truth, the Life, And You`ve promised never to leave me, My Savior, my friend, From beginning to end. 
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