"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." -Proverbs 15:1
"Let your gentle spirit be known to all men." -Philippians 4:5a
"Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom." -James 3:13
"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy." -James 3:17
I would like to just take some time and re-read all of these verses... Just drink deep of what we are seeing here... Once again we see wisdom and gentleness teaming up together to form a bond of unity in a person's life and in his or her response to others. "A gentle answer turns away wrath..."
For me personally, I have struggled with gentleness... I still struggle with gentleness. My brothers and sisters are a great source of practice for me, but I most often fail in the exercise of love and patience, kindness and gentleness... Why? Because I have not yet learned to completely rely on God, to rest in His promises, and to meditate on them day and night.
If I were more constantly reminded of gentleness, I would be less likely to fly off at the handle when my siblings do something that I don't want them to do. If I was so saturated in the will of God for my life, instead of allowing myself to be distracted by the problems of the here and now, then I would probably be more attentive to my attitude and how I relate to others.
There have been times, in the past few weeks, where I have spent days at a time meditating on kindness, on love, on peace in Christ... and those are the days that have been the most productive in growing in my relationship with God and with others. When I remind myself, throughout the day, that God's desire is for me to be like Christ in everything, then I think and pray constantly for His help in the areas of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
I remember the week we were studying kindness... I would go to work in the mornings and begin to pray aloud, as I was working, for God to develop in me character that would glorify Him. During that week I had several opportunities to demonstrate kindness... and I was more aware of other people's needs. He will answer when we call.
So, here's my challenge to you... meditate on gentleness. Where do you struggle the most with being a gentle witness of Christ's influence in your life? Where does your patience meet it's greatest failures? These are the times, the places, where you must be the most intentional about exercising gentleness, patience, peace... Don't let the old sin nature have it's way... you have died to sin... remember? How can we live in it any longer?
I'm afraid I have strayed a bit from my original intention for today's blog, but I want you to understand the importance of not simply hearing what is said about God and then walking away... No, you must actually apply and strive for what is seen in the Scriptures. We are told to bear fruit...
So, getting back to gentleness, I wanted to look at what it means to be gentle in dealing with others, today. More specifically, to be gentle in dealing with adversity...
It's hard, sometimes, to let something go... especially when you feel like someone is being rude just to get on your nerves! Breath deep! Exhale... "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger..." Remember these words when you're tempted to retaliate. I am not very good at applying this to my own life! I think gentleness is one of the areas that I need the most work in. Actually... I'm SURE gentleness is one of the areas I need the most work in!
I had an opportunity, last night, to exercise gentleness and patience with one of my siblings... It was hard! But thanks be to God, because I had spent time meditating on Him and His Word earlier that day, I carefully and calmly addressed the difference of opinion between us and was able to come to an agreement with my brother. The issue? ...not important! haha You thought you were going to get something out of me! The issue was ridiculous, which made it all the more difficult for me to restrain myself from getting angry with my brother. However, God has a very good memory of the things that we pray for and gently reminded me of my request for gentleness in my own life.
Gentleness, for me, has ultimately been a sacrificing of what I feel I am entitled to. If my siblings aren't doing exactly what I would have them to do... gentleness looks something like: Presenting my suggestions in a loving manner and then... stepping back and allowing them to make their own decisions. "But," you might ask, "What about if they are being completely irrational?" Are you being irrational in your expectation of your siblings, wife/husband, or co-workers? Consider their angle on things... Are you just being demanding? If there is a genuine issue, deal with it in patience... it will be hard, but we must not let our tempers win the day.
Some people would say that gentleness is too much like being a push-over. Perhaps, but that's because we live in a world where we have been taught to push and shove our way to the front of the line, to the top of the peak... But I don't see that anywhere in the Scriptures. No, I see Christ, washing His disciple's feet... humbling Himself to the position of a servant... This is our role-model! Here is our King! He has made Himself the lowliest of men... and He has called us to do the same! Push-over? That's only because there are people that are pushing! And understand this about those people... they are pushing to the front because they are searching... they haven't found true purpose in what was right in front of them... This should cause us to pity them! When you are "pushed over" remember that Christ has already been pushed! When you are beaten down, most likely by words, remember that Christ has already been beaten as well... with words, fists, whips...
Friends, modeling Christ looks nothing like the success of the world... it's hard. Gentleness is HARD! But modeling Christ is the greatest thing that we could ever hope to accomplish in this life. It is our calling, it is our duty, it is our greatest joy! Therefore, practice gentleness in all that you do. Be self-giving instead of selfish... and pray for those who are pushing you down... pray that they would come to understand that what they are truly searching for is found only in Jesus Christ. I leave you with these thoughts for today...
Grace and Peace!
Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .
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