“I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:28-30).
This week I have been re-reading The Glorious Pursuit, Embracing the Virtues of Christ by Gary L. Thomas. The content is very thought provoking. He begins with this thoughtful paragraph:
“Pause a moment and try to imagine yourself as a person who acts with the compassion of Christ; who has the patience of God Himself; who is discerning; gentle, yet confident; surrendered to the will and purpose of God. This is the life Jesus wants you to inherit, transforming you into a person who is motivated by the beautiful, not the lustful; the generous, not the selfish; the noble, not the conniving; the creative, not the destructive.”
The book is all about embracing the virtues of Christ.
One of the chapters, called, “The Caressing Life,” expands on the virtue of gentleness, especially the gentleness of Christ. Jesus describes himself,
“I am gentle and humble of heart” (Matthew 28-30).
We are also admonished to,
“Let your gentleness be evident to all” (Philippians 4:5).
How does this work out in real life? If you have read the gospels, you know that Jesus was very gentle with most people - healing, feeding, preaching, teaching. He also became angry with ‘phonies’ and people who were just trying to set Him up. He told them in no uncertain terms that He knew what they were trying to do.
I was thinking about that late last night when our doorbell rang. Two women were on our doorstep asking to use our phone because their car had broken down - they needed to call a cab. We live on a very busy highway and have had some bad experiences when people came to the door requesting help (lying, robbing thousands of dollars worth of equipment from our barn and garage). However, many of the people that come are legitimate and we help them.
How does a person embrace a gentle spirit after being taken advantage of? There is only one way. Open ourselves up to Christ and ask Him to develop a gentle, discerning spirit within us. Everything God asks us to do, He also provided the resources. Isn’t that great?
“For God is at work within you, helping you want to obey Him, then helping you do what He wants” (Philippians 2:13).
He will produce in us the wisdom to know when to be gentle with people and when to be firm.
Father, we know Jesus lived a sinless life. He modeled the spirit-filled life for us. He called Himself gentle and humble and You have asked us to be gentle. You know we are generally not gentle - we are self-centered. Produce in us a spirit of gentleness of and wisdom. Amen.
Who is God?
