Gentle and Kind Pt. 1

The words gentle and kind have been on my heart lately.

That’s what I want to be known by. When people see me coming, I want them to see a smile on my face. I want them to see the joy and love of the Lord flowing through me. John 13:35 says, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Loving others well, especially when people aren’t acting in a lovable way, does not come naturally to me. I get offended easily. I’m jealous when people have something that I want but I don’t have. I get angry when people don’t treat me as the center of their world.

All these responses are natural responses when we’re living in our flesh. But they aren’t glorifying to our Father in Heaven. They don’t make unbelievers want to learn about God’s Word and who He is.

Gentle - having or showing a mild, kind, or tender temperament or character

Kind - of a sympathetic or helpful nature

Let’s not beat ourselves up when our lives don’t show these characteristics. There is grace for the hard days. We are human, so we will stumble and sin. We will act out and get angry sometimes. But we must not sit in our shame and guilt, but instead repent and forgive ourselves, and others if necessary.

Funny story, as I’m writing this, God gave me an opportunity to be gentle and kind…I didn’t quite respond in the best way. :( It’s a process, guys. Even the most gentlest of people get frustrated sometimes, if not in word, then inside their hearts.

On this side of Heaven, we’re never going to “make it”. In Luke 9:23, we’re called to take up our crosses daily and follow Jesus. We’re never going to fully become like Christ and follow His perfect example. (Even in Heaven, we’ll never fully be like Him, because He is God, and we are not.) While Jesus won the war over sin, we still live in a world where the Enemy still has power, power only God allowed him to hold for an ever-shortening time.

In the next couple of posts, I’m hoping to give examples of how we can be gentle and kind. Sometimes, it’s easy to have this realization or desire of wanting to become more like Christ, but it’s hard to apply it and let God change our hearts.

Hope you’re having a wonderful day! Praying for you if it’s a rough one. Jesus is right there with you. He sees every tear that falls and He loves you.