This meme made me think……. For decades it was clear to me that I lacked gentleness. And I was comfortable with that …..until I wasn’t. That was when I began praying for gentleness. It took time but I have, thankfully, gained a greater capacity for more consistent demonstration of gentleness. What I discovered with gentleness is that self-control is especially necessary and must be sought alongside gentleness. The flesh will continue to rise up at times and challenge one’s desire for the pursuit of gentleness. You have to really want it and cooperate with the Holy Spirit to maintain it, requiring a full measure of Holy Spirit holding the reins of SELF to keep flesh under control….. it’s a shame it’s taken me so long to recognize the connection between the two….. It really began working on me recently in a challenging brief relationship with someone I observed to be very stubborn, self-willed, bitter, complaining,
and frankly, paranoid and self-destructive. I realized quickly there would be no dealing gently with her without getting run over by her attempts at manipulation. That tests patience and self-control mightily, as well as gentleness. I can’t say I did a particularly good job with it. But I delivered on what I promised and then some without getting sucked into her drama.
Several people were talking this morning about Christ and how accurately one can actually represent Him in her Christian belief and practice…. One person mentioned how the aggressive way The Chosen portraying Jesus’ anger and turning over the tables in the Temple has stirred some indignant responses about it not being the Jesus that they know…. Jesus’ meekness is not weakness, it is intentional control over owned power and authority. When abuse treads on one’s deepest held convictions and virtues about what is most valuable in their life, as the Father’s house and His peoples’ relation to the Father is with Jesus, righteous anger against abusers is not an unexpected result. My question to myself is, if I am acting as a steward of the Father in managing the resources He has given me to use in serving others, at what point am I to establish a boundary and say, “No more!” ? When the principles and values I stand for in the name of Christ are being trampled by attempts at manipulation, deceit, or access to those resources being abused or even simply devalued and taken for granted by another to the extent of presenting as an entitled demand, am I exercising boundaries in a righteous way? And if there is pushback on the boundary-setting how far am I to go to make clear that “No” is “No” without it becoming a personal matter? How does one not sin in the midst of anger? Toward what is the anger expressed and on behalf of whom? (CBB 4/8/25)
