Wimpy or Gentle

Ephesians 4:2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Our Gentle Savior
A few years ago my husband Mike and I took our girls on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Florida. Of the five of us only two enjoy park rides, my husband Mike and middle daughter Stephanie. So, after two days of paying big bucks to get into the theme parks and having to practically drag his family unto the rides in order to get our money’s worth, Mike was growing weary.
During Wednesday morning breakfast, he gave us a pep talk. He assured us that there’s nothing to be afraid of. He tried to convince us that the rides were going to be fun. He even stressed that we weren’t coming back to Florida to try this at another time. We all needed to take the chance to fully experience it now. His motivational speech concluded with a call for action, “Is everyone ready to be BRAVE today? Are you ready to be the BRAVE family?”
It may have been a passionate conclusion to his speech, but it remained ineffective on Melanie, our 7 year old, “No!” she said, “I want to be part of the WIMPY family!”
Being a wimp goes far beyond the 3/5 of the Bulthuis family with a fear of fast rides. Many people associate being a wimp with being gentle. They wrongly equate gentleness with being afraid or weak.
We need to look no further than Jesus’ journey to the cross to realize that gentleness is not the easy road taken by wimps, but an attribute of God shown perfectly in Jesus. Notice Jesus’ strength and gentleness in some of the events of his last week he died on the cross.
1. He chose the humble mount of the common man to enter into Jerusalem. See your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Matthew 21:5)
2. Jesus entered Jerusalem gently and humbly as the crowds sang praises to him. Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest. (Matthew 21:9)
3. When the Pharisees confronted Jesus, asking him to stop the people from singing praises to him, did he act like a wimp? Did he run away in fear of his enemy? How would a wimp act in this situation? Not at all. His reply to the Pharisees was gentle, yet bold and uncompromising. He was not afraid to stand up for the truth! “I tell you,” he replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40)
4. He continued to be gentle as he drove out sellers at the temple, ate the Last Supper with his betrayer and prayed at Gethsemane.
5. He patiently watched as he was disowned by His friend Peter, judged by Pilate and mocked by soldiers.
6. Even during His crucifixion He begged God to forgive those who were killing him. Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34)
Alleluia! What a Savior! What a gentle Savior!
Our words and actions should always be modeled after our Gentle Savior. The Bible tells us that we too should . . .be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2)
Consider how strength and gentleness can be more and more evident in your life as you follow in the footsteps of the One whose gentleness never wavered, even as he bore our sins on the cross.
Today’s Prayer:
Jesus, thank You that You are my gentle, loving Savior. Help me to follow Your example by being humble and gentle. Please make me; patient so that I bear with others in love. May Your gentleness be more and more evident in my words and actions. In Jesus’ Name Amen.
Written by Lenae Bulthuis, Renville, Minnesota