Gentleness wins the day. Kindness brings us joy and peace. Generosity sets us free. Gratitude opens up our hearts and minds to the light and beauty of our world. Love, truly is more valuable than any worldly goods on this planet.
Christians know that we are blessed and those blessings are meant to be shared with love and compassion. We are not here to be warriors, but rather, to be beacons of light. We are here to share the message of salvation through love, compassion, hope, kindness and peace.
The Bible is filled with beautiful and moving passages and some of the most wonderful can be found in the writings of the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 42 is particularly wonderful:
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”
In chapter 42, God speaks of Jesus as His servant and chosen one whom He upholds and in whom He delights. We learn of Jesus’s warm and loving gentle character and of His compassion and character. We learn that the spirit of God is upon Jesus and that He will will bring forth justice.
In verses 6 and 7 we are shown that:
“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
Jesus is not an egotistical person. He is quiet and calm. He is of a gentle nature and has infinite sympathy. In verse 3, we are blessed with a beautiful description:
“A bruised reed He will not break And a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.” – Isaiah 42:3
One thinks of a bruised reed as being fragile, but we are told that He will not break — cannot break. A smoldering wick is seen as weakening, not quote lit, but not fully extinguished — Jesus will never be extinguished. He cannot be. He endures. His strength continues. The wick is forever, as is Jesus and the brightness of His love is endless.
The same can be said for a man or woman who feels beaten down — we must continue. We must remain and endure. It is by the strength of God that we can do so. Jesus came to save us — to show us that the way is to be good and kind. To be calm and patient. To help others and to be supportive. It is through kindness and compassion that we are given strength to endure.
As the Bible says, those who live by the sword, will die by the sword. Those who take up anger and revenge will not make it. Those who embrace selfishness and pettiness will not endure. It is through the grace of God and Jesus that He is our light and salvation. The world may seem cruel at times, but we are never to let that change us. We are all called upon to be a light of hope through faith and the gift of salvation through Jesus. The rough warrior is not the way — the peacemaker is the way.
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus and we are on the wrong path when we ignore His teachings. Jesus is showing us the way…telling us the secret, so to speak. Those who love Jesus and seek salvation, know that the way is clear: rejecting cruelty, greed, judgement and anger. In their place, take up peace, kindness, generosity, calmness, hope, love and fairness.
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” – Ephesians 4:31-5:1
