“Gentleness is strength under control.” -Gerhard Grabenhofer
This statement took me back when I was asked in Leadership track to speak on the character of Jesus. How do I choose which characteristic, when Jesus embodies total goodness, which is the sum of all His attributes? The options are limitless. As I started searching, there was one attribute that stuck out among the crowd, and it grabbed my attention because it was not only a word that described my Heavenly Father, but a word that embodies my earthly daddy.
Gentleness
As I started searching into the guts of how Jesus walked out his life in gentleness, I came across an article, ‘Jesus is the Gentle One and He Calls Us to His Gentleness’ written by Gerhard Grabenhofer, a pastor in New York. He defines gentleness as “strength under control.”
What could this possibly mean? So I asked myself the question, “What is strength and where do I get it?”
I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (-Phil 4:13)
Strengthen me according to your word! (-Psalm 119:28)
Our strength comes from Jesus, who is both “him” in Philippians and the “word” in Psalms. We know this because of (John 1:1) “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
We know from the beginning of time, to the Gospels, to the present that Jesus is all powerful! This isn’t how he modeled his strength, and spoke of his strength though. In (2 Cor 12:9), “..my power is made perfect in weakness.” Where did he prove this? In the cross!! Jesus comes in HIs strength, humbly as man to help and save man, not to be greater than us, but to be one with us. “For is was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.” (-Heb. 2:10) This along with many other passages depict Jesus’ gentleness with mankind. Jesus and his father, God, had all power, yet controlled it, making him gentle, which led him to Calvary, ultimately leading him to eternal Glory.
Gerhard Grabenhofer puts it this way, “That’s precisely how Jesus set up His kingdom—by His gentleness. Had He used His divine power to avenge Himself, had He resisted His arrest, beatings, crucifixion, there would be no kingdom, no Church and we would all still be condemned, lost sinners with no hope of rescue. Jesus willingly endured all this to save us. He is Gentle—He had strength—all power—but did not use it, instead He endured all to save us from our sins that we may be His saints!”
Jesus showed us his strength under control by becoming man, walking with his disciples, the triumphal entry (Matt 21:5), he heals many and charges them to tell no one, he was tempted, rejected at Nazareth, and speaks of loving your enemies. “It is the humble and meek attitude of wanting to help other people instead of wanting to be superior to them.” -Eddie Foster
Jesus has walked as an example of gentleness throughout the gospels, but what does he actually have to say about it? “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (-Matt 11:28-29) To be gentle and lowly means to have humility and Jesus walked that out perfectly every day of his life. Our Savior has all the strength of the world, yet as his ministry went on he continued to humble himself. He became more and more and more lowly, walking with the tax collectors, the Samaritan’s, and prostitutes. He was one with them and spent his life surrounding himself with that crowd because while no one else would love them, he did!
That’s how our Lord modeled how each of us should live. Jesus put his strength under control, completely embodying gentleness, which in every moment requires humility. That how my dad has modeled gentleness for me my whole life. My daddy walks in humility, putting his strength under control, even when he could break out in rage as the world can often drive us to insanity. And yet he walks in this because his real Daddy, Abba, Jesus, has invited him to walk in His gentleness.
I only hope that I can walk in as much gentleness as both my Daddy’s, earthly and heavenly, have modeled out for me my entire life.
“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt 5:5)
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