Gentleness
Tuesday
"power under control"
Now I know what Gentleness is. What in the world is this power I am trying to control? Christ understood the power that was in him. Do we, as modern day Christians, understand the power we claim to be inheritors of (Hebrews 9:14-15)?
Unfortunately, I know very few people that truly live powerful lives. I wonder if our faith has been so watered down that we no longer understand what it all means for us. Early in my belief, I knew I needed Christ to live my life to its full potential. I knew that without Him, my life didn't have purpose. I still know why I have Christ in my life but I don't think I live it to all of the full potential intended by God.
Now, I don't think I am suppose to be going around trying to do super-spiritual things everyday. I believe God uses my everyday life to be one of His examples in our world. I do question some of my intent. I can't say that I spend each day going out making a difference for the Kingdom. I certainly don't go about sharing the power that lives inside me. I wonder how life would change for me and the people around me if I could boldly go through my routines with the power of Christ guiding my intentions, WOW....What if through gentleness with my children, spouse and friends people saw the power I have in my life? What if I truly started to understand that the power in me is the same as the power that rose Christ from the dead?
Romans 8:9-11(msg) But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!
Just Peachy (Family challenge)Teaching Gentleness to children can be extremely difficult. Especially if you have toddlers. Peaches are one of the yummiest fruits out there but they bruise with the slightest mishandling. Buy a few peaches this week and share them with your kids, maybe hand one to your youngest child to see if they are gentle with it or not.
While eating your peaches over some ice cream or covered in cream, talk to your kids about the importance of gentleness. Explain how people we love are a little like peaches and that our words and our actions can bruise them much easier than we expect them to.
The entire point of these family challenges is to get you talking with your children. Regardless of where your conversations will lead, you are leading your family in the ways of our Father. Teaching His values in simple situations will create a desire in your children to mimic those behaviors.
