Let Go and Let God

The idea of a life that is ruled by gentleness, meekness and humility is counter culture to our world. It goes against the grain of what society teaches regarding how lives should be lived out. You only have to watch the current movies and television shows to see that we are a society that recognizes and promotes aggression as strength. Heroes are often the ones with the biggest guns and weapons the one’s who rush in and subdue the enemy by brute force. Some of our children’s favorite games or television shows (and don’t be fooled by their cartoon nature) are about war, cops and robbers, aliens vs. earth men; the theme for the most part is good vs. evil and 98% of the time good wins. They all involve battle, conquering and winning by force and display a variety of violence. Some of our conversations are laced with innuendo, subtle put-downs (not really so subtle), insults, one-liner digs, and all other forms of sarcasm and ridicule; all in the name of “having fun” or “kidding”. We rarely see this as a form of violence or aggression towards another, yet many of our deepest wounds have been at the end of a seemingly harmless “dig” or an “in fun” sarcastic comment. The idea of winning at all costs and by way of force or subtle aggression has carried over into other parts of our lives as well, for example sports. Sports have become as much about intimidation and taking out the opposition rather then about accomplishment, skill and integrity of play.

Men have been taught that gentleness is a sign of weakness, men must be tough, and they are never to cry. If a young boy is gentle and mild in nature his classmates often call him sissy. If he is a grown man, he often becomes the brunt of cruel remarks, with “gay” undertones. Gentleness is out and Macho is in.

I remember being taught in Government class that the President was the most powerful man in the U.S. And, being a woman I most likely would not be President. But, if I wanted to make a real difference in the world I must be in a position of power, I must be in the position to set the agenda. To make a difference I must participate in passing legislation, lobbying congress, electing officials, or running for an office myself. There was never any mention of making a difference through gentleness born out of soft, mild humility. Or making a difference in the lives of others one person at time.

We are taught at an early age that only the tough (rough, hard core, independent, able to take care of oneself, not leaning on, or depending on anyone for survival) make it in this world. If you want to get ahead you must be ambitious, self motivated, a go-getter, engaged in self promotion and assertive (and if you are not assertive enough, you may take classes to learn assertiveness). Everyone is looking out for their own interests, touting ones own horn and looking out for numero-uno, and that would be self! We have become an “it’s all about me” world.

As we shall this week the component of Gentleness is all about God. It is all about others, it is all about relinquishing our will and our rights, and it is about finding freedom to be all that God has for us to be, as we surrender. Gentleness isn’t about a certain personality type or the tone of your voice (loud or quiet). You can have a quiet, soft-spoken personality and not have a gentle and quiet spirit. Or, you can have an effervescent, bold personality and still have a gentle and quiet spirit (yes!). Prior to doing this study I always thought of gentleness in terms of someone who is soft-spoken. There is so much more; so much more! In a nutshell it means we “stop fighting God”. Did you catch that? Gentleness means we stop fighting, stop resisting God ...and give ourselves over to His authority. We can not do this on our own; it can only be accomplished as we surrender to the work and power of the Holy Spirit. Gentleness is developed in our lives through the complete surrender of our will to God’s will, and His way in our lives.