A bruised reed he will not break, and
a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory. 21 In
his name the nations will put their
hope.” Matthew 12:20-21 NIV
Part of what drew people to Christ was his
combination of power and gentleness.
Many people with power take advantage of people, but Christ did not
manipulate people or seek to control them in any way. Christ used his power to serve. He also maintained self-control with the
religious leaders who were constantly seeking to trip him up. This gentleness
and self-control was possible because Christ was confident in the Father and
his good work. This gave Christ the
power to be gentle with hurting people
and maintain self-control with difficult people.
This week, set
aside some time to consider the people and situations in your life. Is there someone in your neighborhood or
workplace who could use some gentleness?
Is there a difficult person who is making it necessary for you to have
more self-control? Is there a difficult
situation that is tempting you act outside of God’s ways? As people or situations come to mind, pray
for them and ask the Holy Spirit to produce his fruit of gentleness and
self-control in you. Also, ask the
Spirit if there is any specific action step you need to take with these people
or in these situations. Trust his
guidance and his work in your life.
