Gentleness: A Wrap-Up

This has been a difficult week... I'm afraid I didn't do a very good job of providing continuous insight on gentleness each day this week. I guess that's because gentleness is still somewhat of a foreign concept to me... rarely, if ever, is gentleness seen as anything more than weakness. I have had to try and overcome this mindset that I must exhibit control of a situation by being demanding and persistent with people. I have had to look into the deeper parts of my soul and search for signs of gentleness... I don't know that there was much there, to begin with.

We are all good at being outwardly "gentle" in various situations. But are we really gentle people? Or are we putting on a good show so that we don't look bad to those we are with? Self-entitlement is so prevalent in America, or anywhere else for that matter, today that we seem to be nearly incapable of actually living out a gentle lifestyle. We are bombarded with the idea that you must have what you want, when you want it, how you want it. There is no alternative! How sad... How do we show the light of Christ in our lives when we become upset with our waitress and let her and everyone else know it? I've seen it happen... pitiful! A grown man behaving like a child because he wants to be served first!!

How do we show the light of Christ to our friends when we get upset with our brothers and sisters (husband or wife), and demand our way or berate them? What part of gentleness says that tearing people down with words is okay? I haven't seen that part... I've only seen where we are supposed to die unto ourselves...

Friends, I have a long way to go with gentleness... I am the least qualified to demonstrate this quality of the Christian life. However, I desire to change... I want to be more like the Christ that I preach! I want to be able to demonstrate all of the fruits of the Spirit to such a degree that people can't talk to me without wondering what makes me so different! And I don't want to just demonstrate them, but actually have them be a part of my everyday life, my personal life. I don't want it to be a show. I'm pretty sure God hates it when we try to set ourselves up as con-Christians. Perfect in the eyes of the church and our friends, despicable in the eyes of our families... the ones who see the person that we really are and mock what we pretend to be!

I hope that you too will desire change. I hope that you are as tired of the falseness and the dirty feeling from living a double-life. There's a certain despair that comes from this lifestyle... when we feel like we're really good at being good when we are around others, but can't seem to be good when we're with the ones we are supposed to love the most! That's because we are trying to "fix" things in our own strength! We are not giving it up to Christ, and admitting that we are failures on our own! This is the first step in becoming more like Christ... admitting that you are weak and need His help, then giving over control in these areas of your life. It's hard, but as I've said before, it's not supposed to be easy to follow Christ. That's why He calls us to take up our crosses, daily, and follow Him. We wouldn't need a cross if we didn't have things in our lives that needed crucifying, daily!

Friends, I look forward to next week... though again it is not an area that I am very well equipped in. I look forward to the convictions of what we will find. I look forward to understanding, better than I do now, what I must change in my life to be more like Christ.
Have a great weekend, and God bless!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .