The Gentleness Of Jesus

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

- Matthew 5:5

Do you remember the fear and trepidation of being a child and waiting for mom or dad to catch you in a moment of poor behavior?

I remember the summer days at home where my mom would assign my siblings and I a list of chores and then head out for work. We would spend all day procrastinating.

Then, like clockwork, we would hear her tires roll into the driveway at 4:00PM and we’d all shoot up from the couch in a panic, her neatly written post it note list now a glaring threat hanging on the refrigerator. We would begin to frantically vacuum and throw items in drawers as she walked in.

But if you can remember the panic of waiting for mom or dad to catch you in a mistake, then you can also remember the relief of their forgiving smile. More often than not, my incredibly gracious parents would meet my mistake or failed grade or broken lamp with a hug and a reminder that their love wasn’t dependent upon what I did.

I truly believe it is their example of gentleness that made following Jesus from such a young age so natural for me.

They always showed me His love. Because it’s easy for our finite human brains to respond with that same kind of panic when we go to God.

We think He will be like our mom coming home to an incomplete chore list. We often walk into moments of prayer expecting a disappointed parent…  “You messed up this bad? You haven’t done anything for Me?! I am SO upset with you!”

I remember inviting a friend to church once who hadn’t been since he was a kid. “I don’t know,” he said. Tears suddenly filled up his normally stoic eyes, “I think if I walked in there God Himself would strike me down or something.” He laughed it off, but I could see the pain. The real belief that maybe his life of wandering had pushed him too far to ever be something worth the presence of God.

And then comes the voice of Jesus, so contrary to our beliefs. He doesn’t yell at us to be better or do more.

His voice, soft, gentle, and full of love, beckons us towards him.

“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 in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

- Matthew 11:28-30

Our God is gentle and humble in heart. When we are bogged down by our sin and pain He doesn’t tell us… “Come to Me when you fix the situation. Come to Me when you’ve got it together.” He just tells us… “Come to Me. I will give you rest. My heart is gentle and humble for a reason, I am drawn to you in this exact moment of sin and suffering.”

Jesus’ third beatitude is about meekness because he himself is meek. He humbled himself to a cross so we might be able to be close to him.

When we have experienced the life changing gentleness, humility, and meekness of Jesus, that’s the kind of life we go out and live.

We go out and build relationships in our world marked by a Christlike love and gentleness. We smile at the guy who cuts us off on the freeway, we look into the eyes of our cashier a little longer, we take a deep breath when our kids are whining, and we pull our spouse into a hug even when the argument begins. Because we have experienced a gentle and meek God who chose us on our worst day. So we start to do the same for others, little by little, with His strength.

Blessed are the meek, friend. Stop worrying about what the world says about you. Start experiencing the gentleness of our humble Savior.

And then let’s be the kind of good neighbor who starts offering that kind of love to others!

Cristina  Schmitter