This weekend one of our assignments for school was to write two essays, each on a different characteristic of God. I chose to write on Grace and Gentleness. Grace has always been one of the most important aspects of God to me and one of the hardest to understand and accept. Gentleness is different. I have never had a strong understanding of gentleness. I always saw gentleness as the soft side of God. Gentleness in the English language does mean soft and delicate. The word used for Gentleness in the Bible doesn’t mean that.
I sat down with my language helper Oksana and I asked her what she thought gentleness meant. She said it was difficult to explain but she thought it meant obedience. I was confused. The word in the Russian Bible used for gentleness is translated into English as meekness. I didn’t have any better understanding of what meekness is so Oksana and I went to the Greek. Meekness or gentleness means to accept the life that God has given you, to accept the good and the bad. Meekness means to take your sufferings and to learn from them. A meek person does not blame God for the problems in their life or in the world. Jesus was called a meek person. He was not only obedient but He also stood up for the Father, He had a righteous anger. Righteous anger is another part of meekness, standing up for God and getting angry for wrongs done against Him. That certainly contradicts my earlier thoughts that a gentle person was always quiet and soft. We do not have a soft God.
I feel a little embarrassed that as a seminary graduate I didn’t know what meekness meant. Meekness is a fruit of the spirit and God says that the “meek shall inherit the earth.” We are to be meek. I guess it’s time to stop my complaining and start learning from the difficult in my life and to continue to stand up for God.
2 comments:
What a great post! Thank you for sharing. You might have really enjoyed Pastor Adriaan's sermon last week on suffering. It is timely with a lesson that God is teaching me (thankfully not through rough circumstances but in my heart). That lesson is that we shall embrace the suffering in our lives that the Lord allows because it is what refines us and conforms us to His likeness. Jesus was willing to take the cup that God had for Him. I hope I can have that same attitude!
Thanks for blogging! It is fun to read about your life in Russia!
Yesterdays "One Lord Sunday" service was held at the Wasilla Sports Complex and was attended by Governor Sarah Palin and her newborn son Trig, The Lt. Governor was there and Senator Lisa Murkowski, A couple thousand people attended from at least 12 area churches and most importantly the Lord was there. Governor Palin once again dedicated the state of Alaska to Jesus. Thank you for your updates. This is just to let you know whats going on here. God Bless.
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