Encouragement, God's Love, Relationships

Handle With Care: Practicing Gentleness as Christians

Dana B

When I graduated with my master’s degree from University of Georgia (Go Dawgs! Lol), a former classmate sent me a beautiful Class of 2013 glass frame. It was gorgeous! It even had a spot within the frame to embed and preserve your graduation tassel. I loved it. The only thing that was wrong with it was that by the time it was delivered to my mother’s doorstep in Fairfield, Alabama it was in about 10-12 pieces.

Shattered

Damaged

Broken

Ruined

And if you’re reading this Brittney, I am so sorry I never told you! I just didn’t have the guts to tell you back then that the graduation present that you were so thoughtful to purchase and send to me as a gift (although you had selected and shipped with care), had not been HANDLED WITH CARE by the postal workers.

*Sigh

As I think back to that beautiful picture frame, I think of the many pieces of it I saw as I unwrapped all the bubble paper, the foam, the tape, and paper with the words “FRAGILE” and “HANDLE WITH CARE” written in big red, bold letters across the packaging.

Lesson Learned: Not everyone knows how to handle things carefully.

 

2 Corinthians speaks of our earthly bodies being like jars of clay—fragile. Although this text specifically refers to our outward bodies, the same holds true to our inward body. No matter how strong we claim to be, we as humans are fragile. Our feelings get hurt; we get tired; we get frustrated; we get weak. Many people do things to hurt us in relationships (familial, romantic, and friendships). The main reason this happens is that we fail to acknowledge and respect each other’s fragility.

 

 

There’s good news though— there is someone who always knows how to HANDLE us. Someone who recognizes how fragile we are and can be but also knows how to care for us in the gentlest way. Our creator. Oh, how gentle and tender He is with us!

Who better to know how to handle something than the person who created it?

Ephesians 2:10 says that “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them”. God knows how to handle us. Even when people fail us. Even when the US Postal Service fails us (*insert sigh), God will not fail us. He will give us the protection, the security, and the comfort that we need.

Galatians 5:22-23 elaborates on what the fruit of the Spirit is. If we can recall what the fruit of something is, it is what is born from something else. In essence, these verses are describing to us that the Spirit brings forth:

  • love,
  • joy,
  • peace,
  • forbearance,
  • kindness,
  • goodness,
  • faithfulness,
  • GENTLENESS
  • self-control

 

Colossians 3:12 also states “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience”

There’s that word again! GENTLENESS……God wants us to have it and exhibit it–to ourselves and also to others.

 

 

So, the next time someone hurts you, be patient and understanding. Even though Philippians 4:5 commands us as follows, “Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near”, we don’t always follow these instructions. The people who hurt us are imperfect just like we are imperfect. They deserve forgiveness just as much as we desire forgiveness from God. They may not necessarily know how to HANDLE US WITH CARE. However, there is someone who does— our gentle and tender Father in Heaven.

 

May your eyes, your head, and your spirit always be LIFTED.

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Published by Dana B

Dana is a Christian writer and speaker. She's the voice behind the blog "Lifted Woman". On the site, Dana writes about FAITH, LIFE, and CREATIVITY. She relates biblical text to everyday life challenges and situations--- all for the purpose of encouraging and uplifting others. She believes we all can live a life LIFTED IN CHRIST. Enjoy the site's blog posts and connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter @liftedwoman.

24 thoughts on “Handle With Care: Practicing Gentleness as Christians”

  2. Man! At first I was like yes, thank you Jesus for handling me with care even when others aren’t gentle with me. THEN you stepped all on my toes talking about being gentle with the people who are not the same with me. *Ouch!

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    1. Haha! Yep, we are called to be gentle with others just as God is gentle with us– which is pretty much impossible given how gentle He is (lol) but nevertheless, we should try 🙂

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  4. I remember storming to the Post Ofc demanding they pay for the frame. I was not gentle nor kind to them. They kept saying it was not insured. All the cautionary words were ignored! It all boiled down to no insurance. I also remember. Love you, mom

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    1. Thank you for reading mom! Yes, you and I both were upset with the way the Postal Service did not “handle with care” the package. Made for a great lesson learned though lol. Love you more!

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  6. Great post on a much needed subject these days. I wrote about this subject a couple of times. Sometimes when dealing with prickly Petes (as I call them) it will require us to really
    make a dedicated effort to implement gentleness. Remembering God’s gentleness, love, an kindness towards is exrememely helpful at times when we really want to do unto others as they are doing unto us :D. Thanks for sharing!

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      1. I think for most of us gentleness is something that doesn’t always come easy, especally when certain situations arise. It’s not always easy to cultivate certain aspects of the Christian character (sometimes it takes sacrifice) but it is worth it :). Thanks in advance for checking out some of my posts. God bless you!

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  7. I love this! I’ve been learning to be gentle over the years. I used to have no filter and sound pretty harsh when I spoke to people. God is indeed gentle with us and He is working on me to be gentle with others. P.S. I should go see if my friend got her items in one piece from the postal service lol.

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    1. Thank you for reading and commenting Chelle! So good to see you name pop up. Yes, I think we all could be more gentle with our words. You are so right. He is working on us all. Lol and yes please go check on that package! I hope you have better luck than I did with the post office 🙂

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    1. Great point Andrew! Yes, we can be very enthusiastic about reaching others sometimes that we forget to have the gentleness required for them to receive the actual message. God bless you and thank you for reading and commenting!

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  9. This was an amazing read sis! I’m grateful that when those around us fail us our Heavenly Father never will. It’s also a reminder that we must always treat others with care EVEN when they don’t do the same fot us. It’s a testament of faith. Love you 💕

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  11. This is so true! I love the emphasis on being gentle. I haven’t really seen that before. It is difficult when emotions run high and feelings are hurt but you’re right, we need to show grace and forgiveness like we would want to be shown ourselves.

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