Gentleness

 Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! What an opportunity!!! Today is a blank canvas and each one of us gets to decide what we are going to do with it. I am running into it with hopeful expectations, determined to live it fully, to empty it of its potential…I sincerely hope the same for you! 😊

I am reading a great book, The Glorious Pursuit: Becoming Who God Created Us to Be by Gary Thomas. The other night I was reading a chapter that was so good! How good? Well, I had my Beautiful Bride sit with me as I read to her. When she finally escaped - 😊- I Face Timed my oldest Tender Warrior and read to him! Oh yeah, you know where I am going…I am going to share several excerpts with you all this morning.

The excerpts I am sharing come from Chapter 15 which is titled, Caressing Life: Gentleness.

“Since God is the source of all virtue, we can’t experience one of His qualities while denying that He personifies that virtue. To get on the path of gentleness, then, we need to understand the depths of our Lord’s gentleness.

Though Jesus gave himself a number of figurative titles (such as the Good Shepherd), when it came to actually describing His character with specific virtues, there are only two. This gives any one description particular importance. When Jesus describes Himself in Matthew 11:28-30, gentleness tops the list: “I am gentle and humble in heart.”

Before Jesus came, the prophets predicted that the Messiah would be known for His gentleness: “Behold your King is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey.” When the apostles looked back in memory of our Lord, they thought of this virtue: “by the humility and gentles of Christ, I appeal to you.”

So the Bible predicted that Jesus would be gentle; Jesus affirmed that He was gentle; and the early church – the ones who saw Him fact-to-face and watched Him interact with others in public – remembered Him as gentle.

However we may feel about God, He reveals Himself to be gentle.”

*What a testimony…I wonder how people will remember you and me.

“To truly convey who Jesus is, it’s not enough to just repeat His words; it’s how we speak those words that most accurately convey His Spirit.”

“The Bible is clear that those who call Christ their master will display the virtue of gentleness. Philippians 4:5 tells us, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.” Not to the deserving. Not to those we “like.” We’re to be gentle towards “all.””

“…gentleness is not a bonus we give to the deserving; it is a debt we owe to all.”

“Gentleness is birthed in the recognition that Christian ministry isn’t about winning arguments; it’s about reconciling people to God and representing Christ to the world. Brutish force doesn’t reconcile, it divides; legalistic demands don’t invite, they alienate. Grace and gentleness build bridges.”

“Too often we equate “gentleness” with “weakness” when in fact, the reverse is true. Letting loose with a tirade of anger is an act of weakness, not strength.”

“The “spiritually strong” are the ones who need to exhibit gentleness and de-escalate situations that spiritually week people can’t handle.

Gentleness is much more powerful than the human failings of temper, anger, and hatred. Anger has a place in the Christian life, as does confrontation. But gentleness has a far bigger role to play than anger, for gentleness means understanding human frailty. It’s a willingness to support, help, teach, and counsel with patience, until the other person becomes strong and mature. Gentleness also means the application of grace, and since grace is “unmerited favor,” the true definition of gentleness is the application of unmerited favor.”

“The first step in becoming gentle is being overwhelmed by the gentleness with which God has treated us. I try to remind myself that I need to treat others like God has treated me. Gentleness doesn’t call us to ignore people’s failings – God doesn’t ignore ours – but it does call us to respond in a particular way. The difference is really in methodology – how sin and weakness is confronted and handled, not whether it will be handled.”

Powerful stuff, Friends! I hope it speaks to our Spirits and moves us to be the gentle people we are called to be! 

I would be remiss if I didn’t offer my highest recommendation for The Glorious Pursuit. It is a great book and I find it challenging me every day – to learn, grow, and become the man, husband, father, leader, and friend that God has created and called me to become!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious families, and please stay well! 😊

Kev