It Takes Courage to live Tender

My Desk

Johannesburg

South Africa

15 December, 2025

Dear Friend,

Courage rooted in Beloved Identity is what enables us to live tender with yielded lives and hearts in a culture that tries to sell the opposite. It takes courage to live with a tender heart. The kind of courage that can only come from the Holy Spirit, revealing the nature of Jesus.

Sometimes, it seems so much easier to build those walls and iron gates around our hearts. We even like to put a label on it that sounds like wisdom. We call it 'being realistic' or 'grown-up'. But didn't Jesus say that unless we become like little children, we will not enter the Kingdom (Matthew 18:3)?

The lenses of children uphold the world to a standard of purity and idealism. Children dream and believe the best in people. They believe the ideals they are taught and expect the world to function that way. They believe. They are curious. They learn. They dream. They trust. They are dependent.

I had a moment today where I asked the Lord if the idealism that I hope for is childish. (I want to preface that the ideals we sometimes hope for is not always the same as His Kingdom ideals—may we always yield our minds and hearts to His). He gently answered by reminding me of Matthew 18:3.

“Learn this well: Unless you dramatically change your way of thinking and become teachable like a little child, you will never be able to enter in..." Matthew 18:3 (TPT)

It takes Kingdom courage to live tender - like children. Especially in a world where intellect wants to wear the crown. I am not discrediting the amazing gift of intellect - all good gifts come from the Father - and I love using mine. But it is not intellect which Jesus said will allow us to live in the ways of the Kingdom. It is becoming like children. There's a humility there that we tend to shy away from - a tenderness. A vulnerability.

So where do we get the courage to let go of our self-made guards and fortresses?

Trust.

Trust that He is who He says He is.

Trust that He does what He said He will do.

And trust that His Kingdom way of doing things far exceeds human wisdom. His nature is the only thing worth our trust - it is the only surety strong enough to fuel the fire of courage.

Because, if we're honest, as we mature into adulthood it has been the breaking of trust that caused us to let go of our childlikeness. We lost trust that adults always speak the truth. We lost trust that things work out for the better. We lost trust that people will take care of our hearts. We lost trust that the things we dream about can come to fruition. And in losing this trust, we projected that onto our Father and subconsciously made Him untrustworthy in our own minds, and His way of doing things an unreachable ideal that we'll preach, but not throw our weight behind when living it.

My prayer is for all of us to let go of our own guards, and ask the Spirit to give us eyes to see clearly. Like children. May we never lose our wonder. May we choose tenderness - like the Humble King - who did not ride into Jerusalem with a cavalry or Arabian stallions, but came in on a donkey. Selah. Teach us to be lowly, Lord.

With an ocean full of hope,

Bee