Christ’s Gentleness

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Ephesians 4:2

How did Christ demonstrate gentleness?  Gentleness is the careful handling of strength in order to preserve the integrity of the person or thing to which we apply it.  It is not the absence of strength, but strength controlled and properly applied to produce a beneficial result.  Christ was the Master of gentleness.  The narratives of His life and ministry afford us an abundance of examples.  He was gentle in His dealing with the woman at the well, the man at the pool of Bethesda, and the woman taken in adultery.  In each of these instances, He applied His strength to them in such a way as to produce the desired result.  In the case of the woman at the well, He turned her life from moral self-destruction without berating her for the life she had lived.  With the man at the pool of Bethesda, He brought him from sickness to health without emphasizing that his illness was the result of his own wrongdoing.  In the instance of the woman taken in adultery, Christ faced her accusers and sent them away in shame before He dealt with her in gentle correction.  There are multitudes of illustrations beyond these few, but these serve to make the point that Christ demonstrated gentleness that is worthy of imitation.  As we look to Him we grow to be like Him.

Our Loving and Gentle Christ,
we rejoice in Your strength
and in the way You apply it to us daily.
We praise You that You are good and gentle,
as You conform us to Your Image.