I was filling out an online survey when I came to this question: "What is something that is true about you that most people would not guess?" The answer is that I am very sentimental. I get choked up at the movies when the violins start to swell, eyes fill with tears, and the boy finds his long-lost dog—or something comparable. I'm just a softie when it comes to those things.

It's easy and safe to get emotional over fictional characters and events. But it's a different matter to feel deep sadness and grief over real people and their needs. Heartache for the wayward, the suffering, the lost, and the broken tends to mirror the heart and compassion of Jesus, who wept over wayward Jerusalem (Luke 19:41).

When Jeremiah's people were drifting far from God and His love, he also felt the need to weep. He sensed the burden of God's heart and the brokenness of his people. Weeping seemed the only appropriate response (Jer. 9:1).

As we see the condition of the fallen world and the lostness of the people who surround us, let's ask God to give us a heart that mirrors the heart of Christ—a heart that weeps with Him for a lost world and then reaches out to them in love.  — Bill Crowder