Let Your Gentleness Be Known

Philippians chapter 4. I am going to begin with verse 4, but what I really want to focus on is a word found in verse 5; however, to provide a little context, we are going to read verses 4 through 7. These are such well-known words of the Apostle Paul.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice. Tell someone beside you, ‘Rejoice.’ But that is not what I want to address, although we do have to rejoice in winter when we see that winter is arriving. Rejoice in the Lord. But look at what the Apostle Paul says in light of that rejoicing, that joy which should characterize the children of God. He has some very, very interesting advice. He says, ‘Let your gentleness be known to all men.’ I want you to focus on that word, gentleness. What do you understand by gentleness? What associations does the word gentleness bring to mind? And he says that your gentleness should be known, that you should have a reputation for gentleness, so that when people think of the Lion of Judah congregation, when they think of one of our members wherever that person may be in the city, they think, ‘Wow, what a gentle person.’

“Let your gentleness be known to all human beings. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but let your requests be made known before God in every prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Amen.

Father, thank you. We entrust this beautiful word to your administration. Administer it yourself, Father; handle it yourself, Lord. Give it to your people, and shape it and prepare it however you wish in our hearts, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

I want to speak about the gracious attitude, the attitude of kindness and generosity that God wants us to display as a hallmark of our lives and our human relationships. And I conceived this meditation, for the most part, just this morning, in light of all this conflict and polarization that characterize our nation in these times, when it is as though there were two nations, two peoples here in the United States right now, locked in an irresolvable struggle with one another.

There is what is called red America and blue America: red is associated with Republicans and blue with Democrats. There is a conservative America, generally very religious and fundamental in its biblical beliefs and very insistent on orthodoxy and the Bible and the word of the Lord and moral values, etc. And there is a blue America, generally associated with Democrats, liberal, intellectual, generally urban, located in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago; while that conservative America is generally associated with the southern United States and the central belt of this country.

Two Americas are locked in struggle and hate each other to death, with white-hot intensity. The conservative America of Fox News and the liberal America of CNN. The America that loves Trump and believes he is the incarnation of the Messiah, and the America that hates Trump with all its heart and wishes a spaceship would come and take him away to the planet Jupiter, as far away as possible. Two Americas that believe the other America is the devil incarnate. And two Americas that are in continual conflict with one another.

I read both newspapers. I read The New York Times, which is the fountainhead of liberalism here in the United States, and I also read very conservative magazines such as Weekly Standard and many others, New Republic and others like that, as well as The Washington Times, because I like to know what both sides are thinking.

This situation has had an impact, and right now, in about two or three days, there are going to be very, very significant elections in Alabama, here in the United States, having to do with Judge Roy Moore, who is the object of tremendous conflict. There is an entire America that identifies with this man and wants him elected to the Senate despite all the scandal surrounding him, and that does not believe the accusations being made against him, or believes that they are unfair or at least untrue.

And there is that other America which says, ‘How is it possible for a man of this ilk to be elected to the United States Senate?’ But that is because those two Americas proceed from two completely different perspectives, two different worldviews, two ways of understanding the world. They begin from two very different positions and two ways of viewing human nature, the human condition, sin, the times in which we live, morality, etc.

So each one sees it through a different set of lenses, and both hate each other to death and hurl criticisms at one another and cannot see anything good on the other side. And that highly contentious stance is what characterizes the tone today—the tone one sees and hears and reads in the news, in magazines, and on television—and it explains much of what is happening in this country and throughout the world.

It is a time of extreme polarization. In the past, people could disagree about many things and coexist more or less peacefully, but not today. Everything is highly polarized and, as it were, defined in black and white, very starkly. That stance, that attitude of criticism, judgment, accusation, and inability to see goodness on the other side, or at least the reasoning of the other side, is what characterizes this world. And we see that this happens everywhere: in Israel, with the question of whether Jerusalem is the legitimate capital of Israel or not, whether the Palestinians have the same right—and that evokes a host of other issues.

In Germany the nation is also divided, and likewise in France, Poland, and England with Brexit. The world is divided and polarized; there is conflict. In this nation, every group demands that its rights be recognized: African Americans speak up and raise the issue that Black Lives Matter; the working, blue-collar class here in the United States feels ignored and feels harassed and violated by the liberal class. The liberal class, in turn, feels that its rights are not being considered and are currently being abused.

That is to say, there is an incredible posture of accusation. We also see it, for example, in this whole matter of women who have accused so many politicians, artists, news personalities, and people of that sort. Everyone is fighting. Homosexuals fight for their rights and want their rights to be recognized; immigrants fight for their rights and want their rights to be recognized. We have a swarm of accusations in this nation at this moment, which contrasts with the tone Scripture seeks to establish as the one that should characterize the children of God, characterize churches, and characterize the places where the presence of the Lord dwells. It is a call to harmony, a call to generosity, a call to patience, a call to put oneself in the opponent’s place and try to see that person’s perspective—a posture that takes time to weigh things before acting impulsively.

And I believe that is what this passage is talking about: let your gentleness be known to all men. You will not be able to understand everything to which I am referring, or how it connects with everything I have just said, unless you understand that word gentleness and what Paul means when he uses it. And to understand the full, complete weight of the word Paul uses, which is translated into Spanish as gentileza—in English, the New International Version translates it as gentleness, your meekness—

you have to go to the original Greek that Paul employed when he wrote that letter in the language he was using, which was the Greek known as Koine, understood by all the people to whom he was writing, because he was writing to Philippi, a Greco-Roman city. And Paul says, ‘Let your epieikes be known to all men.’

What does the word epieikes mean? It is such a complex word; that is why different versions of Scripture, different translations, use different words, because it encompasses so much and it is difficult to contain its full meaning within a single word in the languages into which the Bible has been translated. But in the Greco-Roman world, the word epieikes had a number of resonances. Some of them are: let your kindness be known to all men; moderation is another meaning included in the word epieikes; gentleness, tolerance, generosity, magnanimity, mercy, and patience. All those words are included within the word epieikes, which our Spanish translates as gentileza. I like it better than the word gentleness. Gentileza comes closer to what Paul had in mind when, by extension, he called us to let everyone know of our posture of gentleness.

And the Bible uses it on several occasions, and we can understand its universe better when we look, for example, at James chapter 3, verse 17. There you see how James uses it when speaking of the wisdom that comes from above, the wisdom that resembles God, in contrast to man’s carnal, human wisdom.

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle”—there is the word epieikes again. Paul could say, “Let your gentleness be known to all men”—“willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or hypocrisy.”

If you are thinking of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, it is because this word epieikes seems to sum up the fruit of the Spirit: goodness, kindness, goodwill toward people, and generosity. That is the idea.

In First Peter, chapter 2, the Apostle Peter also uses that word. In verse 18 he says:

“Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle”—there is another word, gentleness; when someone is gentle, that person is pleasant, well-disposed, good-humored, and full of goodwill—“do not submit only to the good and gentle, but also to those who are difficult to endure.”

In other words, kindness and gentleness have their greatest resonance when we practice them in situations where the opposite would be natural—in conflict, in opposing others, in seeking revenge. Titus also—the Epistle to Titus—reminds us of this word. In 3:2, it says concerning how Christians should behave:

“That they be ready for every good work, that they speak evil of no one, that they not be quarrelsome,” meaning... Do you know that the word quarrelsome does not mean someone who is always meddling in things that are none of his business? Rather, a quarrelsome person is someone who is always fighting, a pugnacious person who is always involved in some conflict or fight—“that they not be quarrelsome but gentle, showing all meekness toward all men.”

So you see that wherever this word epieikes, gentleness, appears, it is associated with resonances of meekness, humility, kindness, affability, and gentleness. According to one of the great Bible critics and scholars, William Barkley, an expert in the original Greek, Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher who used this word to great effect, defined epieikes as justice and something better than justice. In other words, it is a kind of justice that goes beyond the bare, stark judgment of, ‘You did this; you deserve this.’ No, it is a justice that takes many different factors into account—intention, past history, context, all these things—before rendering a definitive judgment.

This week I visited a court in Boston—not because I had anything to do with the matter; I was simply there as a pastor, just in case. The fact is that I realized how overwhelmed the courts are by so many cases, so many trials, and how superficial the judgments rendered by the courts of justice in this nation often are, because that judge had to process dozens of cases. And I imagine that this is the daily bread of her and of the lawyers who were there, all bored to death, surely thinking about the soap opera they were going to watch that evening, the series waiting for them, or the lunch they had to eat, because they are there continually, one case after another after another. Superficiality. There is no occasion, no real opportunity to sit down and listen: Why did you do this? What happened? And so forth, because there is no time; everything moves quickly. Bring in the next one.

The justice to which God calls us is not like that. It is a justice that takes its time. When someone offends us, when someone makes a mistake, when people commit a sin, when they do something we do not like, before passing judgment we are supposed to think carefully about that person, to look at the person’s context: What led that person to do this? Perhaps the person was hungry; perhaps the person did not sleep well; perhaps his wife burned the food the night before—anything. But it looks at the whole situation and tries to be patient and generous with the person before putting an X beside the person’s name and saying, ‘You are useless; you are worthless; you are no good.’

It is justice and something better than justice. It means going beyond strict, general justice and entering the realm of mercy and taking context into account. Someone has said that epieikes, the word kindness or gentleness, is practically untranslatable; it cannot be translated into any language because it is such a comprehensive word. It has to do with tender tolerance toward others, despite having reason to be intolerant of a person.

Do you know who the model was who illustrates so well for us the gentleness to which the Apostle Paul calls us? Who do you think? Jesus Christ. When you observe his behavior, you see the gentleness with which he judged others. Think of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus is a traitor to his country; Zacchaeus is an internal revenue collector who has abused his position. Zacchaeus, like many tax collectors—publicans—of his time, oppressed people, kept part of the money, and collected more in taxes than he was entitled to collect. He was corrupt, he was a thief, he was someone whom the Jews wanted nothing to do with because publicans were traitors and oppressors.

And Jesus had every right not even to give this man the time of day, and yet Zacchaeus has an inner struggle that he has confided to no one. People see only the thief; people see only the oppressor, the exploiter, the corrupt man. But that is why Zacchaeus climbs a tree when he hears that Jesus is coming to the city: because he has heard about this preacher who loves people. And I think that tree was a little taller than that one. But it was a good illustration. And I think there were many more people, but that is art for you; it is very beautiful and helps us see the idea. There is a huge crowd, and Jesus is walking with it, and the crowd follows him everywhere.

Zacchaeus, because he was short, climbs a tree—he scrambles up it, as Dominicans say—just so he can at least see. Why? Because guilt is eating Zacchaeus alive, and Zacchaeus feels like a sinner; he feels rejected by people. He is alone, as so many people are lonely today, with his corruption and sin eating him alive. Zacchaeus has heard that this preacher speaks about the love of God, that he is a true prophet who does not sell out to people. He is not like the religious leaders who accuse him and deny him entrance into their synagogues. There is hope for him. And that is why he climbs that tree, thinking, even if I only see him, perhaps that will give me a measure of grace and rest. He expects nothing more.

I do not think he even wanted Jesus to see him, but as Jesus passes by, Christ’s mercy draws him like a magnet toward Zacchaeus. And when the Lord sees him, he fully understands his struggle. He understands the sinful man, but he also understands the man who wants redemption and change in his life. He understands the man who wants to do good but, as the Word says—as Paul says—I find myself dragged toward another power that leads me to do what I do not want to do. The Lord attunes himself to this man’s condition and understands his psychology, and that is why he says to him, “Zacchaeus, come down from there, because today we have to eat some plantains and codfish at your house, and I am coming to your house, so prepare it for me.”

You know what people like—I have seen this—look, a man may be a criminal, but if you treat him as though he were your friend, you have him for life. That is how it is, because they are accustomed to people’s contempt and fear. Look, when you see sinners, treat them normally; do not go around acting like the most pious person in the world: “Oh, my child, may God forgive you.” Do not speak that way, because it hurts my ears.

And sometimes, when people are around me, a bad word slips out: “Oh, Pastor, forgive me.” I tell them, “No, if that is what you say every day, do not worry about it. One more is not going to do that much harm.” We have to be transparent; we have to be simple. Sometimes we Christians walk around with that cheap spirituality, as if God did not know what we truly are behind the scenes.

And the Lord was like that; he was down-to-earth. “Zacchaeus, come down from there. Let us eat at your house tonight. Make me some stew or whatever.” That attitude. By understanding and allowing himself that kindness, that gentleness, the Lord attunes himself to him. And what does that do? It devastates Zacchaeus; it breaks him. While Zacchaeus is there, the constipated Pharisees are saying, “Oh, if he knew who this man was, he would not go near him.” And all the other publicans, oppressors, and friends of Zacchaeus are there. The Lord is at ease because he likes being among such people, because that is what he came for. And Zacchaeus, deeply moved by the love of Christ, by Christ’s epieikes, says to him, “Lord, I surrender. I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone, right now I will give back twice what I stole from them.” Because that is what love does; that is what gentleness does. More than the law, gentleness and love break through.

And I think that churches and ministries often do not know how to strike the balance, because either we go to the side of sanctimoniousness and legalism, or we go to the side of liberalism, which accepts everything: everything is fine, God loves you just as you are, do not worry, keep being the shame of the world because God loves you and he already died for you on the cross. We do not know how to cook with seasoning—a little ham, a little garlic, and a little salt. No, we cook either far too salty or completely bland. Yet God wants balance. God wants different spices to blend together and produce something truly flavorful.

That gentleness characterized Jesus, and we as churches must live in the tension between justice and love, between patience and truth, between kindness and clarity, between the stance of truth that God demands and his mercy as well. And that is the balance we need. Sometimes preaching has to be like that. There will be times when one seems like a prophet of fire and brimstone, and other times one will seem like the gentle pastor people need, because that is the balance.

The Bible says that love and justice kissed, and we have to live at that meeting point. Consider the men who lowered the paralytic through the roof—what a beautiful demonstration of the generous attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ. These men have a friend who is paralyzed. They know that the answer is in the house where Jesus is and that the house is completely filled with people. And what do they do? They go to the front of the line, break through the roof, and lower their friend on a rope. There is the Lord preaching, and suddenly bits of straw begin falling. Everyone looks up, a hole opens, and they lower the paralyzed man on a stretcher.

What does the Lord do? Does he tell them, “How dare you do that? How dare you cut to the front of the line? Go back, wait, and take your turn”? No. The Lord attunes himself to this man’s situation and to the love these men feel for their companion, and that moves him, touches him, and leads him to meet this man’s need.

How greatly that attitude of generosity and mercy is needed at this time, in this nation. You know that today there are many evangelicals and people on the right who say that these illegals, these undocumented people, have cut to the front of the line and have not done what all of us did, which was to fill out our paperwork and come here. They do not attune themselves to the urgency sometimes felt by these immigrants who come fleeing violence and extreme poverty. And then they appeal to the law, to justice: “They must be removed; they must be sent back. Let them return and enter properly.”

And I tell you that the issue of immigration is very complex, brothers and sisters, and I know that in our church there are people who hold many different positions on it. And again, that is what we have to understand. There is a place for justice, that is true; there is also a place for grace. I believe grace is incredible, and what this nation has often shown is generosity toward immigrants, the poor, and the destitute. This nation’s generosity is incredible in many ways, and I believe this is a time to show generosity, not justice, because justice would demand deportation, but rather grace, mercy, and kindness, because that is always a great blessing to nations.

And if this nation shows that at this time, it will be greatly blessed. We must adopt an attitude of generosity, like Christ, who, instead of saying, “No, you have no right. Where is the passport that allows this man to come in here?”—no, he attends to him because he understands the love of these men, and it moves him.

The woman with the flow of blood makes her way through the crowd, violating the ritual law that a woman with a flow of blood must not touch anyone because she is unclean and makes those she touches unclean. But she does it because she is desperate. She has suffered from her ailment for 12 years, no one has been able to help her, and her illness is eating her alive. What does she do? She pushes through the crowd, breaks the law, and steals grace from Jesus, because she does not ask the Lord’s permission. She does not say, “Lord, I would like to be healed.” No. She steals it from him; she snatches it from the Lord. She touches him, and the Lord feels a jolt of power leave him and says, “Who touched me?” A desperate woman. And she thinks that perhaps he is going to scold her. No, all he wants is to bless her, and when he hears her story of 12 years of loneliness, sorrow, and rejection, he says to her, “Woman, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” He blesses her, affirms her, and sends her home without leaving her feeling as though she had secretly stolen that grace.

Can you imagine her perhaps spending the rest of her life feeling, “I did not deserve this; I stole it”? No, the Lord wanted to tell her, “It is all right. Do not worry. Go in peace. You did what you had to do.” My brothers and sisters, Christ’s mercy is so great that we will never be able to understand it. And the Lord calls me, and he calls all of us, to exercise that kind of gentleness, and that is how we should treat one another.

The only thing that preserves a marriage, that preserves harmony in a church, that preserves a city, that keeps races and ethnic groups from biting and devouring one another, is that attitude of gentleness and mercy, which is patient with others and attunes itself to their needs.

That is what we must ask of the Lord. Because protocols and laws and procedures and rules of debate—those things have never brought a nation to peace. I have always said that if a church has no people of mercy, patience, kindness, love, and gentleness, it does not matter how many written manuals or laws you have: there will be no peace. On the contrary, we will use the laws like stones to throw at one another.

“Look at what this procedure says here,” and this other one. I know because I have seen churches full of laws and procedures and protocols, and there is no peace because everyone is looking for Protocol A to throw at the person who has Protocol B. It is mercy; it is love; it is patience. Against such things there is no law, nor can fights be prevented unless we have within us the kindness and mercy that characterize the Lord.

Our Heavenly Father—if Jesus is the model of epieikes, of gentleness, then God the Father... You know that people associate Jesus with grace and Jehovah with wrath, fire, and brimstone. But even in the Old Testament, God—the Father—already wanted us to know his heart of mercy, love, kindness, and forbearance. Look at how the psalmist describes him in chapter 103, in Psalm 103:

“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will he keep his anger forever.”

Look at epieikes here—gentleness. “He has not dealt with us according to our iniquities, nor repaid us according to our sins. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

I love that final verse, verse 13. It says, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him, for he knows our condition and remembers that we are dust.”

That is God’s attitude in the Old Testament. It was not as though God matured a little in the New Testament and all the wrath and rage of the Old Testament left him. No. The Lord—God—has always been a God of compassion, mercy, and kindness. He knows our condition. And that is the key. In English, “he knows our frame”; he knows our frame, our skeleton, and he knows that we are dust. He knows that we want to do good, but many times we are simply made of flesh and bone.

And we must have that kindness, that mercy. Again, we need balance, but it is certainly necessary, because the opposite of that gentleness is conflict: always being defensive, always demanding our rights, being quick to take offense, quick to attack. You know that this is often what poisons workplaces, offices, and churches: there is a group of quarrelsome, vindictive, demanding, gossiping people who are always throwing stones, and they are like evil spirits imposing their tone on a congregation, on an institution. Sometimes you go into offices and see that the people assisting you have bitterness and dryness inside them.

You can be sure that behind it there are two or three obnoxious troublemakers who are always poisoning the entire atmosphere and creating that attitude, and there must be people of peace. That is why the Lord Jesus Christ says, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” The world needs peacemakers, brothers and sisters. At this time, we need to be those peacemakers, those people of mercy and kindness.

Jesus again, our model. You know that Jesus never demanded his rights. Quite the opposite: he gave them up. The Bible says, let this mind be in you—Philippians 2—which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being equal with God, did not cling to being equal with God—or rather, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped—but emptied himself, robbed himself of the idea, and gave up his rights, gave up everything he possessed, and became like a man. He came down from heaven, stripped himself of his divine glory, and walked the earth, experiencing everything we experience so that we could be saved.

If the Lord had said, I am equal to God; how can you ask me, Lord, to give up my rights and descend into the filth of mankind down there, who are not even seeking you, who do not even desire you, who are sunk in their sins, as the Apostle Paul says in another passage? When we were sunk in our sins and our depravity, Christ died for us. The Lord relinquished his rights, and we have to learn, brothers and sisters.

You know that if, in a marriage, no one relinquishes their rights at some point, the deadlock is never broken, and there they both are, each looking out a different window, sleeping with their backs to each other. No, she should apologize to me because she was the one who offended me. And she says, he should apologize to me because he was the first one to do this and that. Unless one of them breaks the deadlock and seeks reconciliation. No, he was supposed to wash the dishes yesterday, so I am not going to wash them today. He is supposed to take out the trash, and I am supposed to make the bed.

Brothers and sisters, people who live 50/50 are not going anywhere. Life has to be 100/100: each person gives 100%, and the Lord sees to it that there is always a blessing. My brothers and sisters, do you know that the best way to live an emotionally healthy life and have peace in your heart is to be generous, merciful, and forgiving, and to do more than is expected of you?

There are people at work who say, no, this is not in my job description. Look, even if it is not, do it, set an example, and you will be blessed. I am a pastor; that piece of paper is lying there, but I am not paid to pick it up; I am too important to bend down and pick up that paper. May the Lord rebuke the devil. You have to pick up not just one, but a hundred. Why? Because you know that when you do that, you are entering into the very heart of Jesus, and God blesses you, rewards you, and prospers you. Always do more than is required of you. Always go the second and third mile. Always forgive, not 7 times but 70 times 7, and know that your Heavenly Father, who sees in secret, will reward you in public, because that is the key. That is the difference.

When, instead of attacking, a person says, no, if I stand here in the middle of this church, stir up trouble, and start shouting, who is glorified? The devil. And who is scandalized? The little ones who see it, who are on the edge of the precipice, and the devil pushes them, saying, look, do you see what the evangelicals do? Look at how they behave. Look at how they resolve things. What difference is there between one and the other?

Now, the person who remains silent and suffers the wrong for the sake of advancing the Gospel and furthering God’s interests will be greatly blessed, rewarded, and prospered, brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters, make yourself poor, and you will become rich. Make yourself poor in the name of the Lord, not out of cowardice or because you cannot do anything else, but because you do it on a spiritual principle, because the Lord seeks that gentleness.

Brothers and sisters, when we live this way, I tell you, it is the glory of God, because then you have a Father who will be one hundred percent committed to you. As I say, the key to spiritual health is generosity and that kindness, that gentleness which goes beyond the call of duty and makes sacrifices so that the spirit of Jesus may be glorified.

Do you know something else? Only truly strong people can be gentle. It might seem like a contradiction; one would think that weak people are gentle out of cowardice. Nietzsche, the great German philosopher, thought that way and said that Jesus Christ’s ethic of turning the other cheek and going the second mile was a slave mentality, and that Jesus therefore counseled it because it was really a mentality of weakness. The superman adopts a posture of war, aggression, and resistance.

But over time I have discovered that only the person who is truly self-assured and full of faith in the Lord can be generous, gentle, humble, forgiving, and patient with others. Why? Because you are like a miser counting your little coins, and you think you have only three pennies; when someone does something to you, you bare your teeth like dogs when someone tries to take away their bone. That is how it is, because you think, this is the only bone I have, and if they take it away, I will have nothing left. So when someone does something to you, you immediately bring out your claws, bare your teeth, and make your hair stand on end so that you look bigger—anything to frighten people. You shout, you fight, you scratch, because you say, this is all I have, and if they take it away, I will have nothing left.

When you know that you have the Heavenly Father, the Almighty, with you; that every good gift and every perfect gift has been given to you; and that you cannot lose because God is committed to you, you can afford to lose a great deal and to wait, because you know that the Lord is part of that battle. When you think that you are the only one fighting, then, of course, you are going to fight tooth and nail; you are going to be desperate.

But when we know, brothers and sisters, that in the world in which we live there is a multitude of witnesses around us—when there is a struggle in a marriage, at work, at school, at the university, or some injustice—you know that there is a cloud of witnesses around us. There I am, and there is my opponent, but God is also there, angels are there, and the devil is there. The devil and his demons are also watching to see what will happen here, whether God will be glorified or the devil will be glorified.

And sometimes we live out our dramas thinking, no, I am the only one here; if I do not defend myself, no one will defend me. But when you live in the light of that God who is present in your struggles and battles, then you can afford to wait, count to 3, take a deep breath, give the person time, view people with greater generosity and greater kindness, give people a chance, go home, and think.

Brothers and sisters, things do not have to be resolved immediately. Be patient. And many times, absorb the debt yourself, and the Lord will see to it that you are blessed at some point. We have to live life in a more complex way. I am always moved by Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. This man sees this human being who has been devastated and wounded by his robbers, by the people who harmed him, and he stops what he is doing and interrupts his business, takes the man, puts him on his donkey, brings him to the hospital to be cared for, and says something that always stays with me. Before leaving, he tells the innkeeper, take care of this man for me and do whatever you have to do for him, and then send me the bill. When I return, I will pay you.

And I love the idea that many times we have to assume the bill. And we ourselves have to pay for the wrong done by others. But what a blessing comes from God when we do that, brothers and sisters. Because this world needs people who do not draw their swords, who do not unsheathe them, because everyone already has theirs drawn. Peacemakers are needed; people are needed who know that God is watching every moment, and that the dramas of the world are much more complex than simply you and me. There are principles which, if you respect them and navigate life according to them, will lead to your being blessed; and if you do not respect them, no matter how hard you try, you will get nowhere.

Do you know who the most miserable people in this world are? The people who are always trying to exploit others, the people who always say, they are not going to do that to me; I will not allow it. Those are the people who always have to be fighting, who always walk around with black eyes, who are always bitter at home, living in a mansion with many possessions but barren inside because they do not respect the principles of eternity.

When you live life according to the heart of Jesus, no one can harm you. You are powerful, and you need to act preventively. I encourage all of us to embrace that gentleness of Christ Jesus. I do not know how you are going to apply that message to your life, because each of us has our own way, but I know that it speaks to me, it speaks to you, and it speaks to all of us. There are ways in the university, in the workplace, in my marriage, in my fatherhood or motherhood, in my church, and in my ministry that I can express the gentleness that characterized Christ Jesus, that characterizes the Heavenly Father, and that characterizes all mature people who live in the light of eternity.

Live your life in the light of eternity. Live your life in the light of the truths of the Word of God, because that is what it says here: the Lord is near. One wonders why Paul said, let your gentleness be known to all people, and then immediately added, the Lord is near. It seems as though one thing does not follow the other, but it does: according to the inner logic of the Spirit, only people who live in the light of the idea that Christ is near can be gentle. Whether Christ is near in the sense that he is with me right now in my situation, or that he is coming soon—and therefore, why should I be fighting over tiny bones, since eternity is greater and the issues of life are far more sublime than that little thing—why fight over it? Why lose so much sleep if the Lord is near, if he is with me, if he is coming soon, if eternity is just around the corner?

When the world is placed within the context of eternity, it becomes very small. Now, if you live only according to the world, the here and now, then of course everything you do takes on life-or-death importance. Let us live life in the light of eternity, in the light of the Word and the principles of Scripture, and then the Lord will always be on our side.

Whom do you want defending your cause: you alone, or the Almighty Father? Then enter into koinonia with him; live life in the light of his generous attitude toward others. Let us internalize this truth, brothers and sisters, and incorporate it into every area of our lives.

If there is someone right now whom you have to forgive in your life, look, do not keep making yourself bitter; do not keep that person in a cell. Close your eyes for a moment; internalize these truths. Is there someone you have to forgive, someone who hurt you? Okay. That person should be in prison a thousand times over and should rot in hell, but right now you have the opportunity to be gentle and to flow according to the heart of Christ and say, you know what? I release you. I am opening the cell where I have kept you locked up for years; now go. I forgive you. Be free, just as I too am going to be free. Forgive whomever you have to forgive; forgive them.

Did someone take money from you and fail to pay you back? Why not forgive them right now? If they pay you back later, amen; if you can ask them for it gently, amen. Do it. But if not, look, do not eat yourself up and lose your peace thinking about how much they owe you and how they robbed you. Release it. Let it go.

Is there someone who has treated you badly and has not treated you with the dignity you deserve? Forgive them. Is there some situation at your workplace right now that is robbing you of your peace and eating you up inside? Why not release it and say, Lord, you are my defender. I have more than I need. You have forgiven me a thousand times, and you still have so many good things for me. So many good things await me. I see that bright future you have for me; I am not going to live imprisoned by this now. I release it; I let it go. You take care of it, Lord. I am going to live my life joyfully; I am going to bless you. A new song is in my mouth. I am going to look at the good things. Receive the call.

Brothers and sisters, may our church be known for its gentleness. May your life, your family, your home—if you begin with yourself, do not worry about your husband or your wife; you begin, because many times that will be your crucifixion. Someone has to be crucified so that a drop of the blood of blessing may flow out and bless a home. If no one is crucified, there is no salvation. Many times we do not want to go up on the cross because it is the other person who has to be on the cross. You go up and do what Christ did, for on the cross he defeated the power of the devil—on the cross.

Many of us do not want the cross, and that is why we say, no, how am I going to go up on the cross? Someone else is the one who has to be there. If that had happened, where would we be? Do not cling to your rights; give them up, and you will be the most powerful person. Do not think that if you do that, people will trample you, abuse you, and take advantage of you.

Look, brothers and sisters, I tell you that this stance, taken as a principle for living, reflected upon with spiritual rigor, and then adopted as a principle for living, is the most revolutionary thing in the universe, greater than an atomic bomb. The truly gentle person, with all the weight that word carries, is inviolable. The devil flees from such people, and God blesses them and defends them as the apple of His eye because they represent the highest values of the Gospel.

You will never be abused or oppressed because you are a man or woman of peace. And when you surrender your rights for the sake of the Gospel, God will restore them to you fourfold. May the Lord help us as a church. Receive that call from God right now; say, “It is for me.” That is for me. It is for me, Roberto Miranda; it is for you—receive it in the name of Jesus.