Gentleness and teachability...I Pause for Donkeys...

Beth then addresses the next aspect of gentleness, teachability.

James 1:21 says we should "humbly accept the Word planted in you." Be willing to learn. That kind of attitude will presume a correct estimation of yourself as one who recognizes their lack. Beth pointed to Apollos in Acts 18 who readily accepted teaching from Aquila and Priscilla even though he had been already highly respected as a learned man with a thorough knowledge of Scripture.

Many times, we learn from people that the world considers lowly or unlikely. Think about Balaam. God had to use a donkey to speak to him because he was following a reckless path and would have been killed if he was not stopped! I like what Beth said about him: .."the last I saw of him, he was riding off with an "I Pause for Donkeys" bumper sticker on the back of his beast."

Let us continue to seek Him, know Him, so that we know we have much to learn from any of His instruments here on earth. For the machismo, that may mean a woman; for the racist, that may mean a different race; for the intellectual, that may mean a child; for the snob, that may mean someone from the other side...for the well-known, articulate blogger, that may mean an inexperienced and unimportant blogger...and the list goes on....

Beth then goes on to say, sometimes it is not the 'teacher' we object to as much as the 'instruction itself.' We must follow God's explicit instructions. Search God's Word when things go awry. She looked at David in that story where he wanted to have the ark of the covenant restored to its glory, except one of his friends was killed by God for touching the Ark. David looked it up in God's Word. Ooops! He had forgotten there were explicit instructions as to how the Ark was to be transported. It takes humility to continually depend on Someone else to live our lives. But it will save us some pitfalls, huh?

God's Word also gives strength to the weary and gives us hope in His faithfulness and promises.

And last but definitely NOT least, is the Ultimate teacher, Jesus, who has set the example for us. We are all teachers in some sense of the word. As mothers, we have our children following in our footsteps for good or for bad. Beth says, "God demands that our teaching comes from "an inward grace of the soul" that He refers to as "gentleness"...teaching with humility...with an attitude of submission...with an awareness of our own sins and a forgetfulness toward the sins of the flock...leaving condemnation to God and conviction to the Holy Spirit. God's teacher is the vessel while God's Word packs the punch..."

Jesus emphasizes that He speaks the words of the Father. Therefore we must also know His Word to share, we must also know God in relationship to become like Him. Like Christ, we must gently instruct. Like Christ, we must serve as He served.

I look forward to Beth wrapping up the fruit of gentleness tomorrow evening. It has been wonderful going through this in detail. Wow, who knew 'gentleness' comprised so much?

I love learning about God and His Word, don't you?