The Verse before....

We are pretty well versed in the standard  Philippians 4:6, aren’t we?  You know it is one of those oft quoted Bible verses that people tell you when your life is falling apart (trust me, I am becoming an expert on those…not that I don’t appreciate them, it is just sometimes I guess the translation gets lost in the pain.)  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ”~Philippians 4:5  I am to the point that I feel really bad but in my head when loving, well intentioned people tell me these wonderful things something happens and all I hear is yadda, yadda, yadda.  Yes, I may be struck dead immediately for admitting that so you might want to move a few seats away.  

 Today, though, when I thought about that verse I stopped and looked it up and was more struck by the verse that comes before it: “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”~Philippians 4:5.  I don’t think I have ever read it, heard it preached on or discussed at all for that matter.  Maybe I did, but I was making grocery lists in my head and missed it???  Who knows? But today that verse is the one that gave me peace.  I want to be gentle.  I want to be known as one who is gentle.  I want my Lord to know me as gentle and kind and good.  When people meet me, I want them to go away with a feeling of peace from our interaction.  I want to love like Christ loved, freely, openly, with no pretense or agenda other than to bring others to knowledge of a loving, forgiving God.  I want my Lord to be near and I want Him to know my gentleness. 

Even in the midst of this pain I want a gentle spirit.  I want that to be what people know about me…

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.
~John 15:13