This is part 3 of a multi-issue devotion concerning the topic of the Servant of the Lord. It is intended to encourage all believers. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, II Timothy 2:24
The servant of the Lord is given the instructions to be gentle unto all men. What is interesting about this statement, is it did not come with a disclaimer dictating who the servant of the Lord is to be gentle towards. There are no prerequisites stipulating who deserves or does not deserve gentleness from such servant. We are simply told, “unto all men.” Needless to say, there are some people and groups in the world today who are fueled by hatred. Especially when one takes into consideration the amount of divisiveness in society today, between the pundits and Monday morning “arm chair quarterbacks” in a plethora of arenas, from the pulpit, the pews to politics. Many if not most, do not understand the topics, they are just against another party or person. By all accounts they are “willing ignorant” of the truth in order to avoid the facts. So, how can the servant of the Lord “be gentle unto all men”? Bear with me in a few illustrations to, Lord willing, bring to mind a fundamental equation in assisting us in being gentle unto all men. Have you ever “stuck your neck out” for someone? Meaning you have suggested or provided a character reference of an individual for a job or a position. During the process of doing so, you bore witness on their behalf concerning their dependability, capabilities and even trustworthiness. Basically, you placed your own character in the judgment hall on behalf of someone else. With this thought, the person will only be awarded such position or employment based upon your personal testimony of their character. It is the same as co-signing a loan, two people are accountable for only one person’s actions. If they fail, you are at a loss as well, for you are the one who went on their behalf, testifying they could meet the needed requirements. Being gentle unto all men, as the servant of the Lord, works in the same manner. No, it is not easy, but neither should it be to offer a true assessment and testimony of another person’s character, knowing it is your own testimony at stake should they behave in an inappropriate manner. Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus saying: “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4.32). Beloved, forgiveness is the greatest Christlike character one may ever portray. In this verse we see God has forgiven us, solely for Christ’s sake, without the witness or testimony of Christ, we would not and could not be forgiven. Take note, forgiveness occurs at the end of a chapter over whelming dealing with the “speech” of a Christian. We find in Vs. 25 “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.” As well as in Vs. 29-31 “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:”. As a general rule, what exits our mouth is what rules in our heart. If we are truly forgiving one another our tongue will bear witness of life giving and blessed words. Our words are evidence of our forgiveness. The Bible tells us concerning the tongue, among many many other things, “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” (James 3:6). In order to have a fire there must be a perfect combination of a flame, fuel and oxygen. You can have the fuel without oxygen and there will be no fire; just as you can have the oxygen and fuel without a flame and there will no fire. When I was a lad, I remember playing with matches, which was and is not a good idea. We used have these glass fluted Gatorade bottles. One time I filled the bottle about 1/4 full with gasoline and for some reason decided to throw a lite match inside. To my amazement, there was no explosion, only a slight ring of fire illuminating from the opening. I learned a valuable lesson in this bad decision, even though the fuel was in jar, the oxygen ceased at the top. Therefore until the fuel came out of the jar, there would not be a fire, but wherever the fuel went when it exited the jar, through the flame was a fire burning everything it came into contact with. Our words are similar, without the words exiting our mouth the combination needed to start a fire will not take place. The goal is for forgiveness to take place within, just as God for Christ;s sake forgave us. Therefore, extinguishing the feelings eliminating them from becoming words, thus setting ablaze a beloved brother or sister. …but be gentle unto all men
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