Fruit of the Spirit...Patience and Gentleness
I was in a Bible study this morning. There is a wonderful group of women who meet on Fridays at the church I attend, and I so appreciate the encouragement and wisdom that I gain from them.
As we talked about Christ and His last hours on the planet, we discussed the crowd that gathered around Him as He hung on the cross. One group consisted of the religious leaders of that day. They demonstrated pride and scorn as they watched the Son of God die. The question was how do we attempt to reach this type of person. There were many good comments made, and it also led to a question about "interpretation."
What do I do with those people who disagree with me? And who am I anyway, a gentle heart seeking to continue a ministry of reconciliation between God and man, or am I one of the religious elite who thinks I'm always right?
Lord, have mercy on me.
Patience and gentleness are such important characteristics of discipleship. God has been so patient with me over the course of my lifetime...embarrasingly so. How shameful when I am anything but. With God's grace, I will grow in this. I want to be able to deal more lovingly with people whose "interpretations" differ from mine. Especially when I find them particularly stubborn.
As I was mulling these thoughts over in class,God provided an object lesson for me. There was a little boy present who came with his mom. Normally he is one of the sweetest (and probably smartest) 4 year olds that I know. He was still sweet today, but a little out of sorts. As his mom struggled with behavior that she was sure was disruptive to the rest of us (which it wasn't...I have an autistic 18 year old; I've seen disruptive!), I watched how she interacted with this child. She was always the mom and the one in control, but, oh how lovingly and gently and patiently she dealt with this little boy. As I thought about my own lack of patience, I saw this virtue very visibly displayed right before me.
May I learn those lessons God so graciously gives.
As we talked about Christ and His last hours on the planet, we discussed the crowd that gathered around Him as He hung on the cross. One group consisted of the religious leaders of that day. They demonstrated pride and scorn as they watched the Son of God die. The question was how do we attempt to reach this type of person. There were many good comments made, and it also led to a question about "interpretation."
What do I do with those people who disagree with me? And who am I anyway, a gentle heart seeking to continue a ministry of reconciliation between God and man, or am I one of the religious elite who thinks I'm always right?
Lord, have mercy on me.
Patience and gentleness are such important characteristics of discipleship. God has been so patient with me over the course of my lifetime...embarrasingly so. How shameful when I am anything but. With God's grace, I will grow in this. I want to be able to deal more lovingly with people whose "interpretations" differ from mine. Especially when I find them particularly stubborn.
As I was mulling these thoughts over in class,God provided an object lesson for me. There was a little boy present who came with his mom. Normally he is one of the sweetest (and probably smartest) 4 year olds that I know. He was still sweet today, but a little out of sorts. As his mom struggled with behavior that she was sure was disruptive to the rest of us (which it wasn't...I have an autistic 18 year old; I've seen disruptive!), I watched how she interacted with this child. She was always the mom and the one in control, but, oh how lovingly and gently and patiently she dealt with this little boy. As I thought about my own lack of patience, I saw this virtue very visibly displayed right before me.
May I learn those lessons God so graciously gives.
posted by Kaye @ 1:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home