Tender hearted (2155) (eusplagchnos from eú = well + splagchnon = bowel) literally means "having strong, healthy bowels" (as used once literally in a medical sense by Hippocrates, 430BC). The inward organs were considered the seat of emotion and intention. The word then means compassionate, easily (quickly) moved to love, pity, or sorrow. It describes one having tender feeling for someone else. UBS Handbook comments that eusplagchnos... may often be expressed idiomatically as “show how your heart feels toward others” or “let your heart go out to others” or “feel sorrow in your heart for others” The root word splagchnon was used by the Greeks to refer to the upper abdominal viscera, the heart, lungs, liver and upper bowels, which the ancients regarded as the seat of affections and emotions, such as anger and love. The phrase "I feel it in the pit of my stomach" is a modern parallel. And we all know how that feels! So splagchnon refers to that deep, internal caring comparable to the modern expressions of deep feeling such as “broken-hearted” or “gut-wrenching”. Splagchnon is the strongest Greek word for expressing compassionate love or tender mercy and involves one’s entire being. It describes the compassion which moves a man to the deepest depths of his being. In the gospels, apart from its use in some of the parables, it is used only of Jesus John Eadie... So far from being churlish or waspish, Christians are to be noted for their tenderness of heart. They are to be full of deep and mellow affection, in opposition to that wrath and anger which they are summoned to abandon. A rich and genial sympathy should ever characterize all their intercourse. (Ephesians 4 Commentary Online) Eusplagchnos not a word about conduct but about your insides -- literally, your innards, your belly. Be well-disposed to each other in your deepest parts. It's exactly the opposite of hypocrisy that acts tender and feels malice. Webster says that the English word tender hearted means easily moved to love, pity, or sorrow The only other Biblical use of eusplagchnos is... 1Pe 3:8 (see note) To sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; FORGIVING EACH OTHER, JUST AS GOD IN CHRIST ALSO HAS FORGIVEN YOU: charizomenoi (PMPMPN) heautois kathos kai o theos en Christo echarisato (3SAMI) humin: (Ep 5:1; Ge 50:17,18; Mt 6:12,14,15; 18:21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35; Mk 11:25,26; Lk 6:37; 11:4; 17:4; Ro 12:20,21; 2Co 2:7,10; Col 3:12,13; 1Pe 3:8,9; 1Jn 1:9; 2:12) THE WIDE SPECTRUM OF UNFORGIVENESS Remember that the spectrum of unforgiveness includes all manner of insults and injuries we receive that result in reactions varying from resentment, to grudge holding, to bitterness, to even overt anger. All of these self-destructive feelings (eg, bitterness is an "acid" that damages the "container" as much or more than those it is poured on) need to be dealt with at the Cross where our forgiveness was paid for in full (Jn 19:30 where "It is finished" = "Paid in full"!) and is thus the fountain head of all supernatural forgiveness. While forgiveness may entail just one act on our part, often forgiveness is a process as the painful thoughts and feelings recur and we find ourselves needing to repeat this divinely enabled act of forgiveness "seven times seventy". It is vital that we as the body of Christ deal with the poison of an unforgiving spirit for this is one of (if not the most) common problems in evangelical churches today, with rotten fruits of disunity, divorce, disappointment, etc (according to Bryon Paulus, director of Life Action Ministries, a revival focused ministry). Jesus addressed believers in Matthew 18:21-35 (implied by the fact that He calls for seven times seventy type forgiveness in Mt 18:22, a quality which is only possible supernaturally, and He also classified this parable as related to the "kingdom of heaven", Mt 18:23) in the parable of the unforgiving steward. In this parable our Lord concluded that the unforgiving person is the one who shows no mercy (Mt 18:33, cp Jas 2:13, Mt 5:7) and who will be turned over the torturers "until he should repay all that was owed" (Mt 18:34, read the entire parable Mt 18:21-35). Note the "time phrase" until. Until can be a few minutes, a few months or many years, even a lifetime. How often we hear stories of unresolved relationships lasting a lifetime, only to be dealt with (or not dealt with) on one's death bed! Unforgiveness is an important topic for the church to deal with. John MacArthur commenting on Jesus' parable in Mt 18 concludes that our Lord... vividly drives home the importance of forgiveness in the Christian life (in) the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. In this passage Jesus’ teaching underscores not only the necessity of forgiveness but also the imperative that if God, Who has received the greater offense, can forgive us, then believers, who have been offended far less, must forgive fellow believers. (Ed: cp Lk 7:40, 41, 42, 43,47)... When God does need to chasten believers for any grievous sin, it is perfectly evenhanded, more so than any king’s punishment could be. The Lord, while always angry at sin, disciplines his own because He loves them (He 12:6-note, He 12:10-note, He 12:11-note). If they forget the forgiveness they’ve received (as the first slave did) and refuse to forgive fellow believers, God causes them to endure such “torturers” as stress, hardships, troubled consciences, and other trials until they deal with the sin. James says: “Judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy” (Jas 2:13). I believe the lesson of the parable is clear: any believer who offends a fellow believer has offended God much more, and God has forgiven him; therefore, the offended believer should always be willing to forgive the brother or sister who sins against him or her and asks to be forgiven. Christians must always reflect God’s forgiveness because they have experienced that same forgiveness. Genuine forgiveness, however, does not excuse the wrongs of others. Compassion and mercy will not rationalize an offense away but will always call it what it is. But in confronting a sin, the forgiving believer will eliminate bitterness and all other negative feelings that can only increase the sin rather than eliminate it. Then he or she can confidently and sincerely pray the familiar prayer, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt. 6:12-see notes on forgiveness related to this passage). (MacArthur, J. The Pillars of Christian Character: The Basic Essentials of a Living Faith. Page 88. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books) The subsequent verses in chapter 5 draw a conclusion based on Paul's instructions at the end of chapter 4 (which is why I think chapter breaks can be sometimes distract from the flow of thought)... Therefore be (present imperative) imitators (mimetes = One who mimes = acts a part with mimic gesture and action usually without words Let your actions speak louder than your words) of God, as beloved children and walk (present imperative) in love (The "imitation" must take effect in the practical, unmistakable form of a loving course of life), just as (Paul introduces our great Example we are to seek to imitate) Christ also loved you (How did He love us? How much?), and gave Himself up (the ultimate surrender of self or death to self) for (pictures substitution - in our place) us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma (So Christ in this passage is present as our preeminent perfect pattern as well as motive of that divine love which should mark God's beloved children who are on display before a spiritually dead, desperately lost watching world!). (Eph 5:1,2-note) Expositor's Greek Testament: The "therefore points to the same connection of ideas, while it introduces new exhortations based on the supreme fact of God's forgiving love in Christ. Of the duties inculcated on that basis the first and the one most immediately in view is that of the forgiveness of those who wrong us—a forgiveness which should be free, loving, ungrudging, complete as God's forgiveness is. (Ed: Just try to carry out this objective in your own power! The only chance we have is by relying on the indwelling Spirit and the grace in which we stand which is sufficient for our every weakness!) "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/ephesians_431-32.htm#tender