It hit me this Sunday as I listened to the Sunday message to be able to fulfill our call we may very well need a serious attitude adjustment ourselves. We need to pray for gentleness, we need to pray for wisdom, we need calmness in our own souls, we need to pray for patience. Sometimes we need a swift kick in our own pants before we try to help others move to the center.
Gentleness is not easy to come by. Oh sure, there’s are some who seem to always be gentle and patient. But most of us want things fixed immediately and we aren’t willing to wait. We use a big hammer and whack at the issue hoping it will work. But that gets in the way of God working. People see the hammer, they sense the pain coming and run away or fight. That hammer is the wrong tool. We are the wrong tool. But God can change us to be the right tool.
But when we pray for God’s gentleness, rest in his strength, and wait for his Spirit to work in both us and the one who needs help, we will see amazing things. If we pray that God will change us first and empower us for his work then we can and will be gentle in our instruction and we will have a great hope in God that the person will change too.
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” -Ephesians 4:2-3
