It has been said, “Big boys don’t cry.”

Yet, the shortest verse in our English Bible is John 11:35. It simply says, “Jesus wept.” At the graveside of Jesus’ friend Lazarus, he is overwhelmed with grief and cries.

These two statements do not align. If Jesus was the ultimate example of what it means to be a human because he is perfect, then tears are a part of the human experience. That means it is definitely okay to cry, even for big boys.

I kept a printout of a quote hanging in my office for years. It was not just a reminder to me when I was overwhelmed with emotions, but also for everyone who sat in the chairs and talked with me. Whenever people would begin to well up with tears, I found that they would apologize. The quotation is from Washington Irving:

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.”

I do not know where you are emotionally today, but there are times when we all need a good cry. Maybe you need to know that it is more than okay; it is Christlike.