Latest / The Father's Business Podcast / Fruit of the Spirit-Gentleness

Transcript

Fruit of the Spirit-Gentleness · The Father's Business Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So, Elizabeth, we've been telling people about our Ruach Journey 2 conference that's coming up in October.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Are you getting excited for it?
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: I am getting so excited about it.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: We have officially opened up our registration and people are starting to sign up and I can just feel the anticipation building inside of me for it.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: And you know, Kimberly, you and I are starting to spend time praying and dreaming and asking God exactly what he wants this conference to look like, Because every Ruach conference we do is a little different from the last because it's based on who's there and what they're hungry to learn and what they want to know about and what God is laying on our heart for this particular group of people.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: So I am super excited about this event coming up.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: So, just to remind people, it's October 16 through 18, and it is in Maryland at the Sandy Cove Retreat Center.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: It's a gorgeous place.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Some of you have maybe not be familiar with Maryland.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: I know we have a lot of listeners that are in the Southeast.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: We really have listeners all over the place and we would love for all of you to come and join us, because Elizabeth and I the two of us went there right Like a couple of months ago.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, I didn't want to leave.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we were just there for a day and it was like can we stay longer and just sit and enjoy this beautiful place?
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: So I think it's gonna be a great place for a conference, don't you?
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: I do, and there's two different airports people can fly into, and so all the major airlines, including Southwest airlines, can fly you to an airport near this retreat center.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: And you know Southwest if you're listening, you want to throw out one of those $49 fair deals.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: We're open so that we can all get to the conference, but I think it's going to be a great, great time and something we're going to do.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: A lot of people are asking so what do I need to do to get ready for this conference?
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: There's several different things that you can do to get ready for this conference.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: You can listen to the podcast that we released last fall on the study on rock journey.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: This summer we hope to continue to talk about some of the themes that we're going to be talking about at the conference.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: Those would be great to continue to listen to to prepare our hearts for the conference and for the month of june.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: We are going to reduce the price of the Ruach Journey study that's available on our website Now.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: It's a 13 week study and some people get intimidated going.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Oh, my goodness, I don't have 13 weeks to do this, right, because summer's busy and crazy.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: It's broken down into 13 lessons but a lot of those teaching videos are just about 20 minutes long, so you can find ways from now until the end of the summer to get through the study at whatever pace you want, to do it with yourself or with a group of friends, and so we're going to be offering it at a discount rate to encourage people to go through the study, to refresh the ideas and the principles of Ruach journey in their mind, to get their hearts ready for what we're going to have in October.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: So go to our website at thefathersbusinesscom.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: If you want to order the study kit, you can go to the store.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: If you want to sign up for the conference, you can go to the events link page and remember for now the conference is our early bird price is $3.99 a person.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: You can pay extra if you want your own room.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: We may be offering some special cost surprises coming up soon.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: So you'll want to pay attention to the podcast Listen for those things.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: If we offer that, remember it's October 16 through 18.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: It's in Maryland.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: You can fly into Baltimore.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: You can fly into Philly.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: We're going to help you figure out how to navigate to the conference center once you get there, so just stay tuned for more details.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: We've got frequently asked questions on the website, but we're excited about it.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: We look forward to seeing you then.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: The Father's Business was founded by Sylvia Gunter to encourage people to a deeper relationship with God.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: I'm Elizabeth Gunter Powell and I am Kimberly Roddy.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Father's Business Podcast.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: We are so glad that you've joined us.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, welcome to our podcast.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Today we are continuing our series on the fruit of the spirit, and today's episode is on gentleness.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Kimberly.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: You remember back at the beginning of this series where we talked about how the food of the spirit is not like a cafeteria line where you can pick and choose which ones that you want to be.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: This is the portion on the cafeteria line that I would just kind of skip over.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: I don't know of anyone who, when they have first, the first word they think of when they describe me is gentle.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: So did it skip over you, or you skipped over it, probably?
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: I missed the serving of gentleness when they were passing it out is what I'm trying to say, and much like my mom likes to say I don't have a problem with patience because I don't have any, mine would be I don't have a problem with gentleness because I don't have any.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: So this one is a struggle for me, simply because my personality can be very strong and I can be very black and white and very quick and very fast paced because of the other ways that God has designed me, but that doesn't give me an excuse to skip over gentleness, unfortunately.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Sure, and as you say that you know, we've got to remember, as we've said in every episode, that we've done on the fruit of the spirit.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: This is an overflow.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: This is like the example of gardening like the fruit.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: The fruit is going to grow if the soil is tended to right.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: And so if we are in alignment with Father, son and Spirit, then, believe it or not, elizabeth, you can exercise gentleness, I know I can.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: It doesn't come naturally, it's not something that you stepped out of line for this one or whatever, but the reality is that as we grow as believers, just as fruit and vegetables, I just went to the farmer's market the other day and got some delicious fruit and vegetables and I was like these are delicious because someone has taken the time during this season to tend to these things.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: And if we'll let Father, son and Spirit do that in our lives and we can partner with Him in our own spiritual disciplines, then it will be pretty amazing to watch how these things that aren't natural, given the other gifts that he's given us, given the personalities he's given us, can start to show up Right.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: I think when we talk about gentleness, the first thing to recognize is that when you look at the word gentleness in scripture, especially in the New Testament, the Greek word doesn't actually.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: There's not a good English word that perfectly fits the Greek word.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: So, the closest that we get is the idea of gentleness or meekness, and the first thing that we want to recognize is that gentleness does not mean weakness, it doesn't mean passivity, it's not being a pushover, it's not a timid, a cowardice person or attitude.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: The idea is, if you have a strong, healthy horse and it has a bridle in its mouth, it's that idea of strength under control.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: It's someone who is safe to be around because they're really strong and I think of, like the identity in Christ's piece.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: All the things that make someone strong are knowing who God is and knowing who we are in Him.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Right, and so it is this idea of strength under control, yeah, and Kimberly, when you talk about strength under control.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: The other connection that I saw as I was studying and reading and getting ready for this podcast was the strong connection of gentleness being connected to humility, and I think it's that same idea.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: That horse has a lot of power and a lot of strength, but he's allowing, he's humbling himself in some ways and allowing himself to be controlled by the bridle of the person who is riding him.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: And there was one sentence that I read that I was like well, this is just far too convicting and I again don't want to do this podcast on gentleness.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: It said someone who lacks gentleness is often prideful, easily angered or feels the need for revenge.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: I'm like, well, you could have gone all day and not said that, but that is a lot of.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: Where lack of gentleness can come from is either I feel the need to sit in the place of judge of other people or I think I have a right to become angry and lash out at someone because either of an injustice done to me or to someone else, and so it can be very justice-driven.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: But I'm still trying to explain away why I don't need to be gentle in a situation.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: But if you look at Jesus, he was all of these things, he was strong and he did get in the face of the Pharisees and he did call out people's sins, but he also did it with a gentleness and a humility I find I very much appreciate and want God and other people to be gentle with me, and yet I find it harder for me to lead with.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: As you said, we work at it and I really I do have to work at leading with gentleness towards other people.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: So let's talk quickly about, like, what gentleness can look like practically, and then let's talk about where we see Jesus displaying gentleness and then let's kind of wrap back up with that practical sense of maybe how we can encourage each other to do it better or how we can grow in that, maybe sandwich this a little bit.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: But I'm thinking of, like, gentleness is being gracious towards someone who makes a mistake.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I'm not good at that, and if my friends are listening or my family, yeah, I probably just turn this off and listen to someone else talk about gentleness.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: It's receiving unkind words with a good nature and a good attitude, giving unkind words with a good nature and a good attitude.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: It's de-escalating the situation by helping to lower the emotional temperature in a conversation or situation.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's giving someone the benefit of the doubt when they said they would do something and yet they didn't follow through.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's empathizing with someone who may be late to a meeting or maybe someone who lost something.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: I kind of laughed a little bit, elizabeth, because we used to live together and you kind of lose a lot of things.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: I do, and there's times where it doesn't affect me or the person you're living with at all.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: There's other times where it's like affect me or the person you're living with at all.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: There are times where it's like we're in the car and you can't find your keys.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: I need to be gentle.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: I'm like oh yeah.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: Not always able to be that way.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: So the idea there is.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: it's choosing to have a gracious disposition towards someone even when you think you have a reason to act otherwise someone, even when you think you have a reason to act otherwise, and I think that's where we, as all people but I'll talk about myself I am much more quickly to justify why I'm not being gentle than I am to stop and go wait a minute.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Even in this, you can choose to have a gentle response.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean we've joked before on an episode or two about loading the dishwasher.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: For me that's kind of an important thing every day.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Meaning there's a way to do it, a right way to do it.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: There is a way to do it.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: And when someone comes and doesn't do it that way, I don't.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: I'm straight up, I do not have a gentle thought in my head, even much less a gentle response towards them.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: It is very quickly defensive and judgmental and like why did you do it this way and this is how you should do it, right, right?
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: And so there's a lot of times where I think, in the mediation world, where I practice helping people with conflict, I think I'm very gentle, but then I'm like, well gosh, people are paying me to be gentle, so I'm not sure that that's fair, right, that's not an overflow.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: So when you think about the word gentleness, or even, in some versions, you see the word meekness, I often think of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, where he says blessed are the, are the meek, which is that same.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: I believe it's the same greek root word that you have for gentleness.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: He says blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: That's a powerful.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: I mean.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: Sermon on the mount is like a big thing for jesus trying to.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: So there's this idea of meekness and gentleness that is elevated in scripture, having this attitude, having this disposition, having this characteristic that defines us.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: Where else in Scripture, elizabeth, do we see this idea of gentleness you were mentioning?
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: It also comes with the idea of humility, which I think is very true.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I think of a very familiar passage in Philippians 2, where we're told, in verses 5 through 8, that we're to have the same attitude as Christ who, being the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant being made in our human likeness.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: And I think that is that overall feeling of humility.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: If I'm living from that place of humility, that I am not better than the person that just made the mistake.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: Going back to some of your examples you just went through, I'm not better than the person who, for a legit reason or just didn't leave the house on time.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: They're late to a meeting.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: I'm not better than them.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: And instead of focusing in on the behavior and saying you knew the meeting started at nine, you should have been here at nine, which I will very likely do that, because I'm very, very time oriented and if I'm late to something, there's a really good reason why I'm late to it.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: But rather than greeting that person with that type of judgment, what if you just take a moment and take a step back and go?
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: I need to have the same humility as Christ did with me.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: I mean the depths of what he went to to humble himself so that I could know him and I could be more like him.
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: And I think again that's why I just think this whole idea of humility and gentleness are so tied together is that, in order to change the world, you have to walk from that place of humbleness.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: And so you see it again.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: You know, continue to think about Jesus when he talks to the woman who's caught in adultery and everyone's surrounding her and they want to stone her.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: And you know, and Jesus's response is you know, you, who's without sin, cast the first stone.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: And even after all, they leave.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: Jesus had every right, because he is righteous and he is pure.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: He had every right to sit in judgment of her and yet he didn't.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: And he's like I'm not going, you know, basically, go and sin no more.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Yes, I want you to have a life change, so it's not also just accepting people where they are and not encouraging them to be more like Christ, but at the same time, if all your other accusers have left, I'm not going to accuse you either, even though he had every right to do that.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: And so I love that.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: I love that gentle side of Jesus, that you see him.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: Even you know we can just keep going.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: When Peter screwed up big time and denied Christ three times, peter and Jesus have that lovely conversation where he just says do you love me?
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: You know, and I'm sure there was a lot of depth to that question coming out of Jesus towards Peter.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: But he didn't sit there and berate him.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: He didn't say see Peter, I told you so, I told you you were going to deny me and you said it would never happen.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: And here it is.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: You know, which is kind of what I because it was a betrayal.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, I can't imagine all the emotions Jesus was feeling in that moment.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: I would have to feel like I needed to state my case first before approaching gently with Peter and saying, hey, I want you.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: Not only do I want us to restore our relationship, but, peter, you're going to go ahead, you're going to feed my sheep, you're going to take care of my lambs, you're going to be a big part of what's going to happen, going forward.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: But no one doubts Jesus's power and I love that mixture of power and humility that we see in this gentleness.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was thinking of John 4, the Samaritan woman, and Jesus's encounter with her is the same thing.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: Behind that, he's gracious in his conversation with her, he speaks with dignity and respect, just because he's speaking to her because, others would have ignored her.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: He's gentle with her, so much so that she responds to that and brings her whole or half her village out to meet him and tell them about him.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: Right, and I think it's interesting in the passage with the Samaritan woman at the well, the passage with Peter denying Jesus, the passage with the woman caught in sin, and at least those three that I'm remembering we just mentioned.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Sometimes, when I've read those scriptures at other times in my life, I hear them interpreted, or I interpret them in my own mind as a harsh tone from Jesus of correction right.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: Not just to the men who are trying to stone the woman caught, but to the woman, to the woman at the well, to Peter.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: And yet I think that's where we have to be really careful To look at the whole of scripture and the character of God and almost even go back and make sure we're reading the Bible for the Bible itself and the story itself, rather than through our own lens, Because I think we're filtering that through our own lens of shame, judgment, discipline, punishment, the stories that we have in our own life, and so we sometimes hear the tone of Jesus through our filter rather than recognizing in those passages gentleness is not, I mean, like you said, he was speaking truth.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: He did say to the woman at the well you have been caught in sin.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: Here I see this I'm not mentioning that, I'm not talking about that right now and in that he is still showing forth a gentle hope in who he is right.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: And then what he, as the spring of living water, had to offer her in that example.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: And I think that's where you look at 1 Peter 3.15.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: It says gently, give an answer for the hope you have.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: You look at Galatians 6.1.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: It says gently and humbly, help someone who's a believer who may be running off in sin.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: We are supposed to speak truth, we are supposed to offer accountability and even discipline at times, depending on the relationship we have with them.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: But too often people take notice of the Christian community these days as if we're not gentle, right, we kind of err to one side or the other and we've got a division in a lot of our churches and denominations and our Christian world, of where we divide, of who's going to be harsher on sin and speak truth and who's going to be loving and kind, right, right, rather than walking that middle line, which is what Jesus shows us over and over and over again.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: And we've just highlighted a couple of those where it's like, hey, even sorry, I just thought of another one Even the disciples are arguing over who's going to be the greatest, yeah, and he kind of says, hey, hey, hey, like you know, who's going to be the greatest?
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: The one who's the servant.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: Overall, they were his closest group that followed him and I'm sure in that moment they were just like, oh, like mic drop, you know, like silence, because it's a correction, it's a hey, let me correct you and direct you into a better, holier Jesus follower kind of way.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: And yet he's doing it with just this sense of gentleness and humility, and I think that's a huge calling for us.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: I think we have to remember sometimes we want to treat everyone like they're a Christian and extend judgment to them, and it's remembering that we can't expect everyone who aren't Christians to act like one, and we treat others based on their worst sin and we judge ourselves by our best intentions.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: And so I think part of this is just recognizing that we're all fragile, we're all fallen, we're all broken and we're all in need of a Savior.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: And the more that we can see our need of a Savior, the more that we can be gentle and offer that Savior to others.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: Because how much more so when we offer that gentleness of a Savior to another, will they want to come near Him.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: It's like we talked about in kindness it's His kindness that leads us to repentance.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Right, and so it's that again that attitude of seeing Jesus over and over, treating people with gentleness and humility.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I was thinking, as we're getting ready to record this, just even thinking about and you touched on a little bit in the Christian community, but also our culture in general, we're in no way gentle with one another right now.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: Like just this morning, I opened up Instagram and I'm just kind of scrolling through pictures and someone who's famous posted a picture of himself with his children for Father's Day, right, and I was just appalled by the comment section underneath this photo.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: I was like it's just a picture with his kids for Father's Day.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: We don't have to be this ugly with each other.
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: Why can't we just?
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: I mean and it may be flowing back into the kindness conversation, but there's also a gentleness to this and there was a way that Jesus was able to be gentle with people and also speak truth, and I think we feel like either we need to speak truth or we can be gentle, but you can't be both, and a lot, I think a lot of us, you know, especially here in the United States, it being a very political year for us, as elections will be coming up in the fall.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: I think all of us are just so hungry for a gentleness in discourse amongst each other.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: I don't have to agree with you, but can we be gentle with one another and understand, like you just said, understand the intention behind, whatever viewpoint they have, versus assuming the worst about that individual?
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: And it's really hard because, as one of the things you were talking about earlier in your list of ways that you can see are you being gentle or not, is when someone comes at me, my instinct is to bow up and shoot back at them.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: It's a natural reflex to want to push back and fight back when someone comes at you.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: But how do you turn the other cheek, as it talks about in Scripture?
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: How do you choose gentleness in that moment?
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: I'm really good about figuring out, you know, maybe even the second after it leaves my mouth, but sometimes five to ten minutes later, whoa, that was not good, I was not gentle in that situation.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: Oh, that was not good, I was not gentle in that situation.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: And in that point it's the humility to come back and say, hey, I could have handled that really differently.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: Right, and to show gentleness at that point.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: Where I want to get to is where gentleness flows out of my mouth the first time.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: So I have to spend less time apologizing to people, but I have always heard, and I'm trying to work on it, but some of it's like you're saying intention versus sin.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: I've even heard well, it's not what you said, it's your tone.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, what tone?
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: I don't hear a tone, but obviously I have one, because I've heard that from more than one person.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: And so it's how do I continually get my spirit, soul and body in alignment with Father, son and Holy Spirit, so that even my tone is softened?
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: And you know the very famous scripture from Matthew 11 where we're told you know, come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: It is who Jesus is.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest of your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: If I'm truly leaning into the yoke of Jesus and becoming more and more like him, then more and more people should be able to say gentle when they think about me.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, if you think about that passage in Matthew the religious leaders of the day they were putting heavy burdens on people and I think that we all carry heavy burdens.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: And it's the reminder in that passage where he's inviting us to come to him and find rest.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: He's not just inviting the weary, we're all weary, he's inviting all of us and he's saying take his yoke upon us.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: So if we think about that yoke, right, it's a piece of wood, it joins two animals together and it's attached to the plow and there to pull it, so the animals could combine their strength to pull a load that it would have been too much for just one of them to bear.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: And so Jesus is saying take my yoke.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: He's not even saying you carry part of it.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: He's saying like I got it, like I got you, I got it Right.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: I think that's where he says right.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: He says he invites you to take his yoke.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: And then he says I am gentle and humble in heart.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: I mean, right there, it's like this is his character.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: And so when people come to me who are weary and I'm not talking about my clients who pay me Because, check the box, I got it, I'm talking about in the day to day when people come to me and I'm weary, I am resistant Because I don't have anything else.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: I'm weary.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: I am resistant because I don't have anything else I'm weary, and so what I naturally meet them with is you're in my way, back off, give me a break, give me space, and so everything that flows out is not gentle and humble, it is self-protecting.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: And this goes back to I don't remember what week it was, but we've had several conversations about self is at the forefront versus spirit and Jesus being at the forefront.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: And so, when our soul leads the way, when our self leads the way, it is just trouble.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: And if we think about our day-to-day interactions, that's what I think we're seeing, and it's Matthew 11 is where in so many ways, it's not run to Galatians 5 and try to just cling to and live out.
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: I've got to have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, good faith, goodness, gentleness, self-control, oh yeah, and it's not always run to the New Testament and do what Paul says of put on and put off.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: The first step may be Matthew 11.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Like I need to come to Jesus and I need to find rest.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: Because when I find rest in him and I take off my defensiveness and I remove my soulish self in the way, that's only when I'm going to have the opportunity for gentleness and humbleness to flow, because then I'm not as focused on me, I'm focused on truly trusting Jesus to have this and it'll be okay.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: If someone comes to me, then I can actually take a breath and not a sigh, because there's a difference in a breath and a sigh as I've been told and say you know what?
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: I want to be here for you.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Can you give me about 10 minutes, yeah, or I really want to be here for you.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: Let's go sit down.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: And choosing to be present because God truly knows people are doing that for me and that's what I long for.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: So that's how we flesh that out and so much of that is.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: We've talked about ungodly versus godly burden bearing.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: So we do have to be careful to not take on things that aren't ours, to take on and get in the path of ungodly burden bearing.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: But in the general day-to-day life where we're doing things with people and it's like, hey, people, really they're just, they need to come to us because they're weary right now and we're going to be Jesus with skin on to them, right In that space can I trust Jesus and lay my burdens down to him and can I give the person in front of me the benefit of the doubt?
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: Before I jumped all these assumptions, before I jumped all these conclusions and recognize I know what they're going through and maybe I don't know what they're going through but can I just be present?
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: And that's hard because it has to start from a place of grace.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: It does and it goes against our normal nature.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, which all of the fruit of the spirit do I mean?
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, if this was easy, we wouldn't need the fruit of the spirit that's why they're called fruit of the spirit not the fruit of elizabeth, because that'd be a totally different tree, but but it's and it can keeps.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: Going back to the theme of just abiding with him and staying with him, and I mean I can tell, like you want to know how my walk with God is going.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: Watch the responses I have when people come and interrupt my day or try to lay a burden at my feet or things aren't going the way I want them to go.
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: How kind and gracious and gentle and holy is my response in those moments.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: There is an equation between well, you're reacting in this moment because you haven't taken the time to allow yourself to be filled by abiding with him.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I love something you said earlier.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: You were talking about like the greatness of God, like the powerfulness of God, and this can correlate to how we treat people as well with how we choose to use our power, our power of reaction.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: But when you think about there's these parts of the Bible that talk over and over again about like the voice of the Lord being so powerful it can shake the earth, he can move the tectonic plates or whatever to form mountains and volcanoes melt like wax and all these kinds of ideas that all those things are true.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: And yet we're also told that he will not break a bruised reed, he will not put out a flickering flame, so he knows when to use his strength and when to hold it back like the bridled horse.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: I think this is where we get to be practical and instead of being reactionary, we can choose to say can I recognize that Jesus had all the power in the world and he chose to bridle it at times because there was a bruised reed in front of him?
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: And can I recognize that other people actually have gentle spirits that I can break and I have broken if I'm not leaning into the spirit?
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: Can I be aware of that enough to walk by the Spirit Make the hard choice.
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: So, kimberly, when you were speaking about the strength of God's voice, that he can move mountains and do these things and, at the same time, a bruised reed he will not break, I started thinking about the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: And you remember, he's had the battle with Jezebel.
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: He's gone and hidden under a tree and he's like I just need to curl up and die.
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: And this is part of God's restoration of him.
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: After, first, he lets him nap and eat some type of cake for a while which I've always appreciated that I think naps and cakes are good and then afterwards he's like okay, go up into the mouth of this cave.
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: So, starting in verse 11, he goes to the mouth of the cave and the Lord allowed a great and strong wind to go through the mountains and break pieces in the rock before the Lord, and the Lord was not in the wind.
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: And after the wind, an earthquake, and he wasn't in the earthquake.
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: And after the earthquake, fire.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: And God was still not in the fire.
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: And after that, a still small voice and other translations translate it the NIV, I know, translated it a gentle whisper.
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: And that's where Elijah was overwhelmed by the power of who God was was in the gentle whisper and I can think of.
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: There's not many, but there's a few times and I won't go through the whole story of them, but I can remember a few times that I've heard that gentle whisper where I've just been crying out to God about something and needing to hear something from Him and you just feel kind of this presence and this gentle whisper response to what you're asking him for and it is powerful and overwhelming and so healing to the moment that I found myself in and I was like why, if I've experienced that from him, do I not understand the power of gentleness and others?
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: And I think a lot of times we shy away from gentleness because we don't think there's power in that.
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: But a very simple but profound example of it I always, when I think of the word gentleness, I think of Mr Rogers, for those of us that grew up in the 70s and the 80s on watching him.
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: He was never raised his voice, he was always kind, the message of the show was always that I am happy to be with you.
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: And there was such a gentleness about him.
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: But don't mistake that for weakness, because he's also a wickedly smart man who knew exactly what he was doing and he knew the power of television to impact people's lives.
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: And there's at least one, if not two, generations of people our generation, for sure.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: We were impacted by him showing up in his gentleness, and he was a Presbyterian minister, but he didn't really bring Jesus into his show, but somehow our lives were impacted through watching him on television even so much so that just a few years ago they made a movie about him and I went to the theater and I watched as almost half of the theater was in tears, adults crying as they watch this movie because of the impact this man had had on their life that they didn't even fully realize.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: And so I see those examples and then I struggle with so why isn't it easier for me to be gentle?
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: But there is such a powerfulness in gentleness and I think in the culture we're living in today, so desperately needed, everyone is so thirsty for a gentle word.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm reminded of Isaiah 40 in verses 10 and 11.
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: It says yeah, I'm reminded of Isaiah 40 in verses 10 and 11.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: It says so you have this.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: He comes with might.
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: And the very next sentence, he will tend his flock like a shepherd, and we all long to be shepherded, to be cared for, to be treated safely and gently, to be held, to be safe, to be treated with gentleness and meekness and kindness, with the strength that comes with Him, with Jesus, and so I think, in light of that, we really need to bless our spirits.
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: Yes, I might need a double portion of the gentleness blessing.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: I do notice that this one is a bit longer than the others, so I think that's a good thing.
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: So that is true.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: So, as we bless your spirit today, we pray that you will open your hands now, open your heart, your ears, your mind.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: Open up your spirit and be blessed.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: Spirit, hear God's word for you in Galatians 5.23.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: The fruit of the Spirit is gentleness.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: And in Matthew 11, 28-30,.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: 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.
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: The gentleness of Jesus was seen in his days on earth with children, with women, with outcasts, with his quarrelsome band of misfits.
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: Isaiah 40.11 says that he tends his flock like a shepherd.
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries those close to his heart and gently leads those that have young Spirit.
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: Jesus invites you to come to his rest when you are weary and burdened.
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: He invites you to take his easy, well-fitting yoke made by the carpenter of Nazareth.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: He invites you to let him offload your burden onto the person and character of your gentle shepherd.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: Spirit.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: Your father knows your frame and remembers your dust.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: He deals gently with you according to your weakness and ignorance.
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: The infinite God of the universe has all power and might, but he sees and cares when a sparrow falls and he carefully clothes the lilies of the field that are never seen by human eye.
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: He cares about your tears and puts them in his bottle.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: His gentle personal attention is beyond comprehension.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: Yet you can gladly receive it, spirit gentleness is not weakness.
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: It is the bridled strength of the infinite power of God.
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: Under his direction, jesus could have called more than 12 legions of angels to rescue him from the Romans and Jewish authorities, yet he submitted to arrest and crucifixion.
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: Because of the power of his love, he chose suffering on the cross for you.
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: He cared not for his own comfort or reputation, that he might set you in glory with himself.
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: The ultimate picture of the restrained strength of Jesus is in Philippians 2, 5-8.
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: Consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing.
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: Taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: Spirit, fall on your face before that magnificent portrait of Jesus and rise to take your position in his humility and meekness, and rise to take your position in his humility and meekness.
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: Gentleness is biblical meekness, a positive quality, and Jesus commended it when he said that the meek will inherit the earth.
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: Spirit be blessed to accept his dealings with you as good and with a humble heart that does not dispute or struggle or resist him.
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: He does not merely deposit his gentleness in you, he lives the strength of his gentleness in you so that at all times you can have his attitude of holy gentleness towards others.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: Spirit.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: Gentleness is the inner character quality of a person commended by God, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in God's sight.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: Gentleness is closely linked with humility, as Paul says be completely humble and gentle, Be patient, bearing with one another in love.
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: God tells you to clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, as you bear with others and forgive their grievances against you, as he did.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: He chose you as his holy and dearly loved one to wear gentleness in a way that reflects well on him.
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: Be blessed with his gentleness in dealing with all people cutting them some slack, mellowing all that is sharp or harsh or short in your reactions.
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: Sharp or harsh or short in your reactions, Tame your soul that at times may want to be harsh or demanding, because insults and injuries are father-filtered for his purposes.
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: Be blessed with the gentle answer of Jesus that turns away wrath.
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: Be blessed with being wise as a serpent but gentle as a dove.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: Spirit.
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: Be blessed with the wisdom of gentleness that is first of all pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: Be blessed with the fruit of gentleness that the Spirit produces in you, your appropriate response from His strength.
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: I want to thank you for listening to the Father's Business Podcast.
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: This podcast is made possible through donations by people like you.
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: To donate, go to wwwTheFathersBusinesscom.
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: Be sure to follow us at the Father's Biz on Instagram and Facebook.