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Are You Strong Enough to Be Gentle?

You're walking down the hall, and you run into a friend you haven't seen in a while. She's angry, and she starts yelling at you for something you didn't do. She's not even making sense. People start to stare. You can't get a word in edgewise.

Your expression turns from surprise and confusion to anger. Your inclination is to lash out at her, just as she's lashing out at you. You could raise your voice to hers. You could choose the words you know will cut deep. But experience has taught you that anger only increases anger. What you need instead is the strength to be gentle and calm.

The apostle Paul knew misunderstanding and bickering can erupt among people who claim to be Christians. Even in church, people fight and argue and cut each other down. How do you respond without getting swept up in the fray? Paul says, be gentle (Ephesians 4:2).

If you've ever stood face-to-face with a very angry person, you know it requires great strength of character to respond with gentleness.

Jesus gave us a powerful example the last week of his life when he rode into a city controlled by his enemies. He didn't come on a big white horse, ready for battle. No, prophets had predicted that the king would come, "gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt" (Zechariah 9:9).

And even after Jesus was hauled in front of Pilate and falsely accused by the priests and elders, he stayed steady and calm. "Jesus made no reply," it says in Matthew 27:14, "not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor."

Remember: The gentleness of Jesus was a magnet that drew people to him. It astounded them. How could anyone have such strength?

It is the strength of gentleness that calms anger and silences arguments. A quiet answer, not a loud, forceful retort.

Over and over again, God points to gentleness as one of the character traits he wants to form within us. To be like Jesus, we must draw on God's strength to be gentle. When we do, we will find one of the great mysteries of friendship opening before us. People will be drawn by our gentleness. It can make them appreciative of our help and curious about our inner strength.

From the Word:
"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1

What has the power to
soothe anger, calm
violence, and bring
peace to tense
situations? It's gentleness.

		The Power Pack Challenge In this "Power Pack," we focus on gentleness. We'd like to challenge you to study Scripture passages about gentleness. Then, after the end of this Challenge, we hope you'll be able to see God developing the strength of gentleness in you.
		Read it! Powerful gentleness Because strength is so admired in our culture, we hear a word like gentleness and get the wrong idea. Like, isn't gentle the same as wimpy and weak? Actually, gentleness is strength! Nothing is stronger. God is gentle, but he is not weak. It was the gentleness of Jesus that drew people to him. There's great friendship-power in … you guessed it, gentleness. So how did Jesus express the strength of gentleness to his closest friends at the end of his life? Look at the book of John, chapters 13-17. Read each chapter with an open notebook next to you, and ask yourself these questions: What did Jesus say and do? What didn't he say and do? What might I have done in the same situation? How can I apply his example to my life? To get some ideas on following Jesus' example, start with the following verses. "As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity" (Colossians 3:12-14). Power and gentleness Read 1 Kings 18 and 19. Elijah's story in these chapters has a little bit of everything—gripping drama, a high-speed chase, personal crisis and a breakthrough moment.	As you study other passages about the nature of God in your devotions, in church, and in youth group, add them to the columns, too. You'll discover that God always finds the right ways to use both his strength and his gentleness in different situations. Work on It! Try these out in the next two months: Think again about the things in the "Read It!" section. As you read about Christ and his friends, or about the relationship between Elijah and God, what did you feel? What was your emotional reaction to Christ's care of his friends, or to God's understanding and gentleness with Elijah? Express your feelings by writing a poem, creating a song, making a photo album, or drawing a picture. Think about a time when someone expressed gentleness to you. Think about how that was just the strength you needed at the time. What did this person do? How did it make you feel? Write a few sentences about a fight or argument—two angry people going at one another. Now rewrite the incident, inserting gentleness. How would the story have been different if one of the two people had been gentle? What would that person say? How would they say it? How would the other person most likely respond?
		In your notebook, make two parallel columns. At the top of one, write: "God Shows His Power." At the top of the other: "God Shows His Gentleness." Read through the chapters, writing summaries in  each column. You may even find some things that belong in both columns.	Want more? If you've found this column helpful, you might be interested in the Deeper Devotions Series, also by Jim Long. It's Who You Are That Counts is a study of the Fruit of the Spirit. When Life Gets Tough is based on the book of James. Both are published by Zondervan Publishing House and are available at your local Christian bookstore, or for information, call 1-800-727-3480.

Copyright © 1998 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or e-mail clmag@CampusLife.net.
November/December 1998, Vol. 57, No. 4, Page 10

Read more from 'Devotionals'

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