Gentle Like Jesus

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble and heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

One of the many words you could use to describe Jesus would be “meek.” Meekness can be defined as trusting God in every circumstance and treating other people in light of this trust. This quality is one we should be emulating based on Jesus’ example.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells His disciples, “Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). In other words, Jesus is saying if you will be meek, you will be blessed and wind up with everything that matters. That is the complete opposite of what the world tells us, saying that you will be blessed if you have money, muscles, might, or missiles. But as we all know, we are not called to be like the world, but to be like Christ, and Jesus was the perfect example of gentleness and meekness.

There is a common misconception that meekness goes hand in hand with weakness. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Jesus was meek, but He was not weak. He was never afraid to stand up for what was right, nor was He afraid to stand against what was wrong. We should emulate this same type of gentleness, accompanied by our God-given strength and boldness. You can be strong and have convictions and speak up, yet you can do so with a spirit of gentleness.

From there, as we start to emulate gentleness based on Jesus’ example, we must realize that having a spirit of gentleness begins with our relationship with God. Gentleness is when you can honestly come before the Lord and say, “I am going to surrender everything to you – my rights, my desires and my wants. I am going to surrender the way I react to other people no matter how they treat me. I am going to surrender my right to revenge, to retaliation, and my right to want what is best for me.”

To put it simply, gentleness is power under control, and this control comes from the Holy Spirit. When you allow the Spirit to have this type of power over you, you are going to begin bearing the fruit of gentleness.

Dear Father, thank you for the example you set of how to be meek and gentle. Help me to be meek and gentle as I interact with others. Give me strength and boldness under control, so that I might stand confidently for you. Amen.