Wednesday, January 13, 2016
A very interesting article on gentleness, and how EVERY disciple should be gentle, regardless of whether you are loud/quiet, male/female, powerful/powerless.
http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/are-you-gentle-like-jesus
Gentleness cannot be confused with personality and character, because it is a fruit of the Spirit and is not an accident of disposition or relational style. It is described as "not being overly impressed by a sense of one's importance".
Jesus commends gentleness in the Beatitudes and it is closely linked with the first 2 before: Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn and the meek (gentle). These go together because the poor in spirit know their need for God's grace. The poor in spirit mourn their spiritual poverty and sinfulness. So the poor in spirit and the mourners are gentle in this sense: their awareness of their sin keeps them from asserting themselves and their rights.
We in the example of Jesus and Paul that the gentle can be assertive, but they do not assert themselves. We can be strong and assertive, yet gentle if we leverage power not to assert self, but to promote the cause of God or the needy. Jesus was forceful, even confrontational, yet gentle because he used his powers for others.
Its definitely something that I need to remember and learn...
avoid the aliens;
1:51 AM
