AGAPE GENTLENESS
God is inviting me to allow HIM to shape my tremendous power.
Think of “gentle.” Take a moment.
What did you think of? Who did you think of?
The Greek word, prautes {prah-oat’-ace} translated as gentleness actually has no English equivalent and means much, much more than the English “gentleness.” Contrary to what you might have thought of as “gentle,” prautes describes a dangerous mighty beast, like a lion or an elephant, that tenderly responds to and faithfully trusts its trainer.
Take this verse in. Stop and meditate on it idea by idea:
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and prautes; be patient, bearing with one another in agape” Ephesians 4:1-2.
In the scriptures, prautes describes your power – your dangerous mighty power – under God’s control. Not what you thought of when you thought of Gentle? Nah.
I am a great and mighty creature, with tremendous power for good; is it under God’s control?
God is inviting you to allow Him to shape your tremendous power into that of a controlled champion, worthy of honor and respect, a standard for others. Great power under God’s control increases to the degree that we increase to our Trainer’s will, purpose, and plan. It will require a hard-won victory over the raw destructive power of our flesh. Did you yield to the Lord at your salvation? Are you yielding still?
Interestingly, only two people in the Bible are described by this type of gentleness, Jesus in Matthew 11:29; Matthew 21:5; and in 2 Corinthians 10:1, and Moses in Numbers 12:3. Both had been entrusted with great power. Both used their power under the Lord’s control. We can, like the greats through the ages before us, surrender our power to the Lord’s control until we are prautes gentle.
Our tongue is such a small, seemingly weak thing, but it can unleash destruction or blessing: “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless… and with it we curse…” James 3:7-9.
I can yield my will to the Lord.
Great power under God’s control is clearly a pattern in scripture. For example:“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” Galatians 2:20. “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” Galatians 5:24-25. In 1 Corinthians 15:31, Paul writes, “…I die daily” speaking of his daily need for surrender.
When you let go of trying to control it:
- Trust the Lord as your trainer.
- Tenderly respond to Him in “that” moment, “that” situation.
- Agape anyway. Joy, Patient, Kind, Gentleanyway.
Great power – under God’s control.
My thoughts and feelings are changeable.
Agape Gentleness grows as I give up the right to judge what is best for myself and others because I trust the perfect, righteous, almighty, loving judgement of the Lord. Don’t you dare think your thoughts and feelings are unchangeable, saying, “That’s just the way I am,” “that’s MY truth,” or “I was born this way.”
Be aware: God is not that concerned about your comfort zone. But, with a perspective of eternity He is always concerned for your soul.
God knows how to grow you far better than you do. So, how prautes are we? In THAT situation. With THAT person? He is the creator, not you. We all have two influences in our souls. The one we listen to grows us into the kind of person we are. Only one is prautes, “Gentleness.”
PRACTICE – Journaling:
What steps can I take to start yielding THAT area of my life to the Holy Spirit?
Identify places that you know have needed to be surrendered over and over again.
Make a list and choose one to work on now.
