1By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” when away! 2I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
7You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he. 8For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it.
REFLECTION
- From Paul’s example here, what is supposed to be the “normal” way Christians exercise leadership over one another? On a scale from 1 – 10, how well do you demonstrate Christ’s gentleness and meekness in leading others?
- What will you work on this week that demonstrates your interest in building people up and not pulling them down?
As I reflect on how to lead as a pastor, I thank God for the insights and convictions from the Retreat on how to build brothers and sisters up in loving Jesus Christ. The "normal" way for making disciples is to lead with gentleness and meekness. Being meek, I am to be God fearing, humble, teachable, patient, submissive to Jesus...) Coming up, I am led to care and reach out to many young people personally and individually over the next couple of weeks. I am reminded that I am to engage brothers and sisters with gentleness and meekness.
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