Tenderness

"Noah Webster defines tenderness as sensitivity to emotions, to the feelings of others.  Kahlil Gibran, in his work Jesus of Nazaereth, says '[Jesus'] sadness was tenderness to those in pain and comradeship to the lonely.'  Biblically, tenderness is what follows when someone reveals to you your inner beauty, when you discover your belovedness, when you experience that you are deeply and sincerely liked by someone.  If you communicate to me that you really like me, not just love me as a brother in Christ, that you take delight in me, then you open up to me the possibility of liking myself.  The look of amiable regard in your eyes banishes my fears, and my defense mechanisms disappear into the nothingness of my non-attention to them.  Your warmth withers my self-disdain and allows the possibility of self-esteem.  I drop my mask of pretentious piety, stop impersonating Brother Teresa, quit disguising my sanctimonious voice, start to smile at my frailty, and dare to become more open, sincere, vulnerable, and affectionate with you than I would ever dream of being if I thought you didn't like me.  In short, what happens is I grow tender.
~Brennan Manning The Wisdom of Tenderness