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Jesus wept.

John 11:35

On average, women cry thirty to sixty times—and men only five to fifteen times—per year. Men can turn off the waterworks after two or three minutes, compared to six minutes for women. There’s some evidence to show that testosterone inhibits crying; whereas the hormone prolactin, which women have a lot more of, promotes it.

But whether you’re a guy or a girl, you’re an emotional being, because you’re created in the image of an emotional God (Psalm 103:13, Jeremiah 32:41, Matthew 9:36). If we’re to love people the way Jesus loved people—and the way He loves us—we have to be willing to be emotionally available to them. It will cost us courage and vulnerability. It will likely cost us tears. But maybe the honest tears of compassion are all that’s needed to soften the hard heart-ground of someone desperate to be cherished or understood. 

Food for Thought: Cry, calm down, communicate. 

The mood-boosting benefits of crying aren’t instantaneous, according to recent research. Shedding a few tears actually leads to an immediate mood dip, but after about ninety minutes, people report feeling even better than they did before they had reason to cry. Crying calms your body down after a stressful ordeal by regulating body temperature and blood pressure. It’s also a great communication tool. Feeling sadness and expressing it with tears can change the dynamic of a conversation or relationship, and is often a powerful call for help.