Walk of Life – Day 25, January 2022 – Thoughts From The Book Of Proverbs – Enter!
Enter with Patience and Gentle and Soft Words
By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone. Proverbs 25:15
Patience is a beautiful quality. Normally, teachers are normally believed to be very patient, especially those who teach lower classes. In our country, the number of students is really high and handling so many at the same time really requires a large amount of patience. We know of many who lose their cool and who have spoiled their reputations because of their spurts of anger. Long forbearing, a perfect example is the African boy Samuel Morris. In his biography, we read of him being very kind and forbearing to the captain of the ship in spite of being continuously beaten and tortured and dealt with very cruelly. Eventually, over a period of time, the captain became very curious and began wondering how this young teenage boy could be so good and kind to him and came to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole ship was saved and what was initially a very violent crew on the ship, became a sober, God-fearing assembly of the Lord Jesus. When people see forbearance and patience, they are touched and moved.
A similar allegory is the next fragment which says a gentle and a soft tongue breaketh the bones. The hardest of hearts are better won through love and gentleness than though continuous nagging, complaining, and being rude. The well known story of Nicky Cruz has David Wilkerson stating very boldly to a young man who could have easily killed him “Nicky, even if you cut me to a thousand pieces, each piece will cry Jesus loves you.” That broke the heart of a long-time drug addict, a gang leader, and a really perverse person. Nicky Cruz is now an evangelist proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus.
We need to be gentle and kind, humble and meek, and patient and forbearing. How beautiful and calm would our homes and families be if we chose to be kind, patient, and humble. It is natural to get angry and hurt but as children of the Lord Jesus, we need to imitate Christ’s compassion, love, and forgiveness. I always wonder, Christ was the epitome of all wisdom, but for the three years of His ministry he did not choose wise men, scholars, teachers of the law, He chose ordinary fishermen and tax collectors and taught them to be His faithful disciples. It would have needed a lot of love and patience to mentor them and make them understand.
Dear Lord, help us to be gentle and kind. Please remove the spirit of anger and unforgiveness. Help us to follow thee wholeheartedly. Amen.
