Gentleness is another virtue that is easily overlooked. Gentleness is quiet, unassuming and tender; we appreciate it when we are injured or ill or needing medical attention, but we are often too impatient to grow in gentleness. Haste, impatience and being short-tempered are the opposite of being gentle, yet these are the characteristics of modern society.

Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, came as a gentle king riding on a donkey (Matt 21:5) and described himself as ‘gentle and humble in heart’ (Matt 11:29), comparing himself to a mother hen who gathers her chicks under her wings. (Matt 23:37) It stands to reason, therefore, that his followers are urged to be gentle: as Paul says, ‘Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.’ (Eph 4:2) Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) and we are encouraged to clothe ourselves ‘with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.’ (Col 3:12)

Gentleness is about our inner attitudes and how our faith is presented to the world. Peter told us to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope we have, but reminded us to do this ‘with gentleness and respect’ (1 Pet 3:15). Timothy was urged to pursue gentleness along with righteousness, godliness, faith, love and endurance. (1 Tim 6:11) We don’t have to be obnoxious about our faith, but need to grow daily in gentleness, for it acts as a cure to ill-temper and wrath. (Prov 15:1)

Apologies for having fallen behind with our Lenten blog posts: travelling to India and a busy schedule so far have meant computer access is limited. Here are our last thoughts…

Weeds grow more quickly and easily than flowers and plants, it seems, and in the same way, pride, arrogance and grumbling can flourish more quickly in our hearts than humility. Humility is not something which is valued in our society. Being modest is inconspicuous, and we seem to value the brash and boastful more than the quiet and meek. We often feel that being humble is beneath us; we fear being trodden on by others and see life as a perpetual struggle to make ourselves top dog.

Jesus described himself as ‘gentle and humble in heart’ (Matt 11:29) and reminded us that His is a topsy-turvy kingdom where ‘those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ (Matt 23:12) Ultimately, as C. S. Lewis said, ‘True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.’ (‘Mere Christianity’) We can be secure in our identity as children of God and allow humility to grow in our hearts by choosing to think of others first and to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. When we do this, we let go of our obsession with ourselves and understand that comparisons with others are futile.

Mother Teresa gave practical guidelines about what cultivating humility looks like in practice:

• To speak as little as possible of one’s self.
• To mind one’s own business.
• Not to want to manage other people’s affairs.
• To accept contradictions and correction cheerfully.
• To pass over the mistakes of others.
• To accept insults and injuries.
• To accept being slighted, forgotten and disliked.
• To be kind and gentle even under provocation.
• Never to stand on one’s dignity.

We were once on holiday in Ireland, and our SatNav was resolutely trying to take us the wrong way to the port. Time was passing alarmingly quickly and it looked like we would miss our ferry home because we were lost. As we stopped to consult maps and SatNavs, a lady following us in a car stopped also and asked where we wanted to go. She then offered to drive to the port, leading the way, cutting through the Dublin streets to bring us safely to our destination with minutes to spare.

Such kindness helped us enormously and was a vivid reminder that it’s the little things in life that often make the difference. This woman wasn’t going to the port that Saturday and went out of her way to help us. She probably didn’t give the incident a second thought, but to us, she was a helper from God, and we were truly grateful.

God is merciful and kind to us, and kindness is something which costs us little but has an enormous impact on others. Those ‘acts of random kindness’ can be pointers to and reminders of God’s character to a world that is often cruel and merciless. Rom 2:4 tells us that it’s God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. How can we show kindness today?

The eight who are off to India are busy making preparations… packing suitcases and sorting out last-minute arrangements. It seems surreal that after so many months of planning, we are soon to be off on the mission trip!

Don’t forget you can follow what’s happening through our dedicated Facebook page (where we hope to post photos and updates) and we will try to keep this updated regularly (free wi-fi is supposed to be everywhere in Bangalore, the IT city, so let’s hope that works!)

In the meantime, here are some photos to whet your appetite!

Please pray for the team while they are in India and for all who remain at home. Our God is able to bless, heal, save and work wherever we are!

Compassion is defined as ‘sympathetic pity and concerns for the sufferings or misfortunes of others’ and is derived from two words literally meaning to ‘suffer with.’ Jesus was moved with compassion when he saw crowds of people because he saw they were ‘harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.’ (Matt 9:36) It was compassion which caused him to feed the crowds (see Matt 15:32) and to heal the blind (see Matt 20:34); in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the father is filled with compassion when he sees his returning son (Luke 15:20). God is called ‘the Father of compassion’ (2 Cor 1:3), so clearly having compassion is part of our growth in godliness.

In our world today, however, it is easy to become inured to sorrow, tragedy and devastation and to become, if not hard-hearted, at least so wrung out that we feel we have nothing left to give. Having a soft, tender heart means we will be easily hurt and wounded; we will feel the pains and sorrows of others and sometimes feel we cannot cope daily with that kind of pain, so we hide away. The only way we can truly cope with the sorrows and misfortunes of others is to bring these before God.

Listening is a skill that has to be developed; James reminds us that we should be slow to speak and quick to listen (Js 1:17), and someone has commented that we have two ears but only one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we speak! Listening well means that we have to slow down and give our full attention to something or someone.

These days, we seem to be obsessed with multi-tasking. One of the banes of my life is ‘background music’ – music that is there in shops, restaurants, homes but is never listened to properly. We fail to listen properly to it and rob ourselves enormously by trying to do too many things at once. Listening can’t be done half-heartedly or while juggling a thousand other tasks. For us to listen well means to slow down, stop preparing our responses before we’ve heard someone out and stop being in such a hurry!

Listening to people takes time and effort, and the same is true of listening to God. I am challenged by Michael Card’s question: ‘Is the reason we’re not still to hear You speak/ Because we don’t believe You will?’ (‘In Stillness And Simplicity’) Take the time out to listen for God’s still small voice today. You might be surprised what He says.