FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “Gentle in Our Time”

One of my mom’s absolute favorite movies is Disney’s Cinderella, and as such, she quotes it somewhat frequently.  One of her most-used lines comes out of the scene when the invitation to the ball arrives.  Hearing that all maidens are demanded to attend, Cinderella asks if she can go too.  Her stepmother replies, “If you get all your work done.  And if you can find something suitable to wear.”  (You know the rest of the story.)  As a teenager, anytime I would ask to do something with my friends, this would be her response.  It became a running gag in our house, and it continues to pop up from time to time.  When she said it way back when, however, she was absolutely serious.  I had to get my chores done and be dressed respectably.  

Now, the second stipulation wasn’t hard for me, especially in the early 90’s when everything was super baggy.  But that first requirement posed some difficulty at times.  Getting all of my homework and chores completed prior to whatever I wanted to do wasn’t always easy, and when I failed, my parents kept their word.  I had to stay home until the jobs were done.  I don’t know if any of you kids have parents who follow through with their promises like that.  It’s funny, because I knew the standard and the consequence ahead of time.  But in those times when I failed to meet the standard, I felt so abused by the consequence.  I knew the rules beforehand, but I thought my parents were giant meanies for actually following through with what they’d said.

Every once in a while, though, I’d come up to the time to leave and I would still have a couple of chores left.  In a moment of compassion, my mom or dad would smile and tell me to go ahead and they’d make sure my last tasks got completed.  I felt so incredibly blessed by their generosity!

Grab a Bible and have someone read Ephesians 1:3-14.

Paul is talking about what Jesus did for us on the cross.  God’s law says that all sin is punishable by death.  You don’t need to get all your work done to get to heaven, you just need to be perfect.  Easy peasy, right?  Because if you’re not perfect, you’ll not only be denied heaven, you’ll be sent to eternal damnation…which is waaaaaay worse than missing out on a movie with your friends.  That’s the standard.  But Jesus—awesome, loving, compassionate Jesus—chose to be gentle with us instead.  He made sure “the task got done” by allowing Himself to die in our place.  “You go ahead and go to Heaven; I already died on the cross for your sins.”  Wow!  How incredible is that!  God has every right to be the firm Father that he is.  And for those who choose not to accept Jesus, those consequences are still real.  But at the same time, God designed a gentle option for his children, whom he loves so much.

What I truly love about these verses is the many ways Paul reminds us that this choice to be gentle wasn’t a last-minute thing.  It wasn’t God just failing to follow through.  It was a part of the plan from the beginning.  Look at these words: “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world…”, “he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,” “[God’s] plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him.”  He always intended to take care of it for us!  That’s what grace is all about.

What are ways you can be gentle in your family?  How can you be graceful with each other?  Being gentle doesn’t mean we bend the rules all the time.  Rules are a part of life and it’s just as important we learn how to follow them.  But how can grace and gentleness be a part of that?  Talk about ways you can be gentle with someone in advance?